Olympiad Maths Prep

Library / /1 of 6

Geometry Difficulty 4.5 AIME Prove it Argentina

Let ABCABC be an acute-angled triangle with BAC=60°\angle BAC = 60°, incenter II and circumcenter OO. Let OO' be the point diametrically opposed to OO on the circumcircle of the triangle BOCBOC. Prove that
IO=BI+IC. IO' = BI + IC.

Solution

By considering the inscribed angle BAC\angle BAC in the circumcircle of the triangle ABCABC, we have that BOC=2BAC=120\angle BOC = 2 \cdot \angle BAC = 120^\circ; then, BOC=60\angle BO'C = 60^\circ. Since OO is a point of the perpendicular bisector of BCBC, then OO' is also on this line. Therefore, the triangle BOCBO'C is equilateral.

On the other hand, we have that BIC=90+12BAC=120\angle BIC = 90^\circ + \frac{1}{2} \angle BAC = 120^\circ. It follows that II is on the circumcircle of BOCBOC. By applying Ptolemy's theorem to the quadrilateral BICOBICO', we obtain:
IOBC=BIOC+CIOB IO' \cdot BC = BI \cdot O'C + CI \cdot O'B
and, recalling that BC=OC=OBBC = O'C = O'B, we conclude that
IO=BI+CI. IO' = BI + CI.

Looking for a route rather than 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.