Maths Olympiad Prep

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Geometry Difficulty 4.6 AIME Prove it United States

Problem:

Let ABCABC be a right triangle with hypotenuse ACAC. Let BB' be the reflection of point BB across ACAC, and let CC' be the reflection of CC across ABAB'. Find the ratio of [BCB][BCB'] to [BCB][BC'B'].

Solution

Solution:

Since CC, BB', and CC' are collinear, it is evident that [BCB]=12[BCC][BCB'] = \frac{1}{2}[BCC']. It immediately follows that [BCB]=[BCB][BCB'] = [BC'B']. Thus, the ratio is 11.

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Source: MathNet, licensed CC-BY-4.0. Statement reproduced verbatim; metadata (topic, difficulty) added by this project.