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Geometry Difficulty 4.7 AIME Prove it United States

Problem:

Let ABCABC be a triangle with incenter II and circumcenter OO for which BC<AB<ACBC < AB < AC. Let DD and EE be points in the interiors of sides ABAB and ACAC, respectively, of triangle ABCABC, such that DB=BC=CEDB = BC = CE. Prove that DEIO\overline{DE} \perp \overline{IO}.

Solution

Solution:

It is enough to show that DI2DO2=EI2EO2DI^{2} - DO^{2} = EI^{2} - EO^{2}. But if we let RR denote the circumradius, then by power of a point we have R2DO2=ADDBR^{2} - DO^{2} = AD \cdot DB, and R2EO2=AEECR^{2} - EO^{2} = AE \cdot EC. Thus it suffices to prove
DI2+ADDB=EI2+AEECDI2EI2=AEECADDB. DI^{2} + AD \cdot DB = EI^{2} + AE \cdot EC \Longleftrightarrow DI^{2} - EI^{2} = AE \cdot EC - AD \cdot DB.
In the usual notation a=BCa = BC, b=CAb = CA, c=ABc = AB, the right-hand side is
AEECADDB=(ba)a(ca)a=a(bc). AE \cdot EC - AD \cdot DB = (b - a)a - (c - a)a = a(b - c).
Now let the foot from II to BCBC be KK; it's well-known that BK=12(ab+c)BK = \frac{1}{2}(a - b + c) and CK=12(a+bc)CK = \frac{1}{2}(a + b - c). So
DI2EI2=CI2BI2=(IK2+CK2)(IK2+BK2)=(CKBK)(CK+BK)=a(cb). \begin{aligned} DI^{2} - EI^{2} & = CI^{2} - BI^{2} \\ & = \left(IK^{2} + CK^{2}\right) - \left(IK^{2} + BK^{2}\right) \\ & = (CK - BK)(CK + BK) \\ & = a(c - b). \end{aligned}
This gives the desired equality, so we're done.

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