Maths Olympiad Prep

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Geometry Difficulty 4.5 AIME Prove it Philippines

Problem:

Point PP on side BCBC of triangle ABCABC satisfies
BP:PC=2:1 |BP| : |PC| = 2 : 1
Prove that the line APAP bisects the median of triangle ABCABC drawn from vertex CC.

Solutions — 2

Solution 1

Solution:

Let QQ be the midpoint of line segment BPBP. The conditions of the problem imply BQ=QP=PC=13BC|BQ| = |QP| = |PC| = \frac{1}{3}|BC|. Let RR be the midpoint of line segment ABAB. Then RQRQ is a midline of ABPABP. Consequently, RQAPRQ \parallel AP. Ray APAP bisects side CQCQ of triangle CRQCRQ while being parallel to side RQRQ of this triangle. Thus APAP extends the midline of triangle CRQCRQ and bisects therefore also its side CRCR. But line segment CRCR is the median of triangle ABCABC

Figure 1
drawn from vertex CC.

Solution 2

Solution:

Let RR be the midpoint of segment ABAB. Choose point DD on ray ACAC beyond point CC such that AC=CD|AC| = |CD|. Then BCBC is a median of triangle ABDABD. As BP:PC=2:1|BP| : |PC| = 2 : 1, point PP is the intersection point of medians of triangle ABDABD. Thus APAP lies entirely on the other median of triangle ABDABD, i.e., ray APAP bisects the segment BDBD. As CRCR is the midline of triangle ABDABD, we have CRBDCR \parallel BD, implying that ray APAP also bisects the segment CRCR. But this is the median of triangle ABCABC drawn from vertex CC.

Figure 2

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