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Geometry Difficulty 5.4 AIME, harder Prove it Romania

Let aa, bb, cCc \in \mathbb{C}^*, be distinct complex numbers with equal moduli, such that a2+b2+c2+ab+ac+bc=0a^2 + b^2 + c^2 + ab + ac + bc = 0. Prove that aa, bb, cc are the complex coordinates of the vertices of a triangle which is either right angled or equilateral.

Marian Ionescu

Solution

As usual, we could suppose that a=b=c=1|a| = |b| = |c| = 1. The equality in the hypothesis is equivalent with (a+b+c)2=ab+bc+ca(a + b + c)^2 = ab + bc + ca, and thus (a+b+c)2=abc(1a+1b+1c)(a + b + c)^2 = abc\left(\frac{1}{a} + \frac{1}{b} + \frac{1}{c}\right), which is the same with (a+b+c)2=abc(a+b+c)(a + b + c)^2 = abc(a + b + c). It is clear now that a+b+c{0,1}|a + b + c| \in \{0, 1\}.

If a+b+c=0|a + b + c| = 0, then the orthocenter of the triangle with the vertices whose complex coordinates are aa, bb, cc, coincides with its circumcenter, and thus the triangle is equilateral.

If a+b+c=1|a + b + c| = 1, then (a+b+c)(a+b+c)=1(a + b + c) \overline{(a + b + c)} = 1, and thus
(a+b+c)(1a+1b+1c)=1, (a + b + c) \left( \frac{1}{a} + \frac{1}{b} + \frac{1}{c} \right) = 1,
that is (a+b)(b+c)(c+a)=0(a + b)(b + c)(c + a) = 0.
Then, at least one of the above parenthesis is zero, and thus the triangle has two antipodal vertices, that is it is a right angled triangle.

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