Maths Olympiad Prep

Library / /27 of 38

Geometry Difficulty 7.0 National olympiad Prove it China

Let ABC\triangle ABC be a non-isosceles acute triangle, and point OO is the circumcenter. Let AA' be a point on the line AOAO such that BAA=CAA\angle BA'A = \angle CA'A. Construct AA1ACA'A_1 \perp AC, AA2ABA'A_2 \perp AB with A1A_1 on ACAC, A2A_2 on ABAB respectively. AHAAH_A is perpendicular to BCBC at HAH_A. Write RAR_A as the circumradius of HAA1A2\triangle H_AA_1A_2. Similarly we have RB,RCR_B, R_C. Prove that
1RA+1RB+1RC=2R, \frac{1}{R_A} + \frac{1}{R_B} + \frac{1}{R_C} = \frac{2}{R},
where RR is the circumradius of ABC\triangle ABC.

Solution

Firstly we claim that A,B,O,CA', B, O, C are concyclic points. Otherwise, extend AOAO to intersect the circumcircle of BOC\triangle BOC at point PP which is different from AA'. We get
BPA=BCO=CBO=CPA. \angle BPA = \angle BCO = \angle CBO = \angle CPA.
Then PACPAB\triangle PA'C \cong \triangle PA'B, and AB=ACA'B = A'C. So AB=ACAB = AC and that is a contradiction since ABC\triangle ABC is not isosceles. So
BCA=BOA=1802C, \angle BCA' = \angle BOA' = 180^\circ - 2\angle C,
and ACA1=C\angle A'CA_1 = \angle C.
Further, we have
HAA1AC=sinC=cosA2AA=AA2AA \frac{H_AA_1}{AC} = \sin \angle C = \cos \angle A_2AA' = \frac{AA_2}{AA'}
and
AAC=A2AHA=π2B. \angle A'AC = \angle A_2AH_A = \frac{\pi}{2} - \angle B.
So A2AHAAAC\triangle A_2AH_A \sim \triangle A'AC. In the same way, A1HAAABA\triangle A_1H_A A \sim \triangle A'BA. Then A2HAA=ACA\angle A_2H_A A = \angle ACA' and A1HAA=ABA\angle A_1H_A A = \angle ABA'. Consequently,
A1HAA2=2πA2HAAA1HAA=2πACAABA=A+2(π2A)=πA. \begin{align*} \angle A_1 H_A A_2 &= 2\pi - \angle A_2 H_A A - \angle A_1 H_A A \\ &= 2\pi - \angle ACA' - \angle ABA' \\ &= \angle A + 2\left(\frac{\pi}{2} - \angle A\right) \\ &= \pi - \angle A. \end{align*}
We get
RRA=RA1A22sinA1HAA2sinA=2RA1A2=2RAA;1 \frac{R}{R_A} = \frac{\frac{R}{A_1 A_2}}{\frac{2 \sin \angle A_1 H_A A_2}{\sin \angle A}} = \frac{2R}{A_1 A_2} = \frac{2R}{AA'}; \quad \textcircled{1}
The last equality holds since A,A2,A,A1A, A_2, A', A_1 lie on the same circle with AAAA' as the diameter.
Now, draw AAACAA'' \perp A'C with point AA'' on line ACA'C. Since ACA=ACA1=C\angle ACA'' = \angle A'CA_1 = \angle C, we have AA=AHAAA'' = AH_A. Then
AA=AAsinAAC=AHAsin(90A)=AHAcosA=2SABCBCcosA.2 \begin{align*} AA' &= \frac{AA''}{\sin \angle AA'C} = \frac{AH_A}{\sin(90^\circ - \angle A)} \\ &= \frac{AH_A}{\cos \angle A} = \frac{2S_{\triangle ABC}}{BC \cos \angle A}. \quad \textcircled{2} \end{align*}
From ①, ② we get
1RA=BCcosASABC=cosARsinBsinC=1R(1cotBcotC). \begin{align*} \frac{1}{R_A} &= \frac{BC \cos \angle A}{S_{\triangle ABC}} = \frac{\cos \angle A}{R \sin \angle B \sin \angle C} \\ &= \frac{1}{R} (1 - \cot \angle B \cot \angle C). \end{align*}
In the same way
1RB=1R(1cotCcotA) \frac{1}{R_B} = \frac{1}{R}(1 - \cot \angle C \cot \angle A)
and
1RC=1R(1cotAcotB). \frac{1}{R_C} = \frac{1}{R}(1 - \cot \angle A \cot \angle B).
Notice that
cotAcotB+cotBcotC+cotCcotA=1. \cot \angle A \cot \angle B + \cot \angle B \cot \angle C + \cot \angle C \cot \angle A = 1.
We then have
1RA+1RB+1RC=2R. \frac{1}{R_A} + \frac{1}{R_B} + \frac{1}{R_C} = \frac{2}{R}.

Want a route through all this instead of an archive? The track puts 2,000 problems in a working order, from AMC 10 level to the IMO shortlist.

Source: MathNet, licensed CC-BY-4.0. Statement and solution reproduced as published; topic and difficulty added by this site.