Maths Olympiad Prep

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Geometry Difficulty 4.9 AIME Prove it United States

Problem:

Let OO be the center of a circle kk. Points A,B,C,D,E,FA, B, C, D, E, F on kk are chosen such that the triangles OABOAB, OCDOCD, OEFOEF are equilateral. Let L,M,NL, M, N be the midpoints of BCBC, DEDE, FAFA respectively. Prove that triangle LMNLMN also is equilateral.

Solution

Solution:

The simplest way to do this is using complex numbers. Let ω=(1+i3)/2\omega = (-1 + i \sqrt{3}) / 2, a cube root of unity, and we have 1+ω=ω21 + \omega = -\omega^{2}. Then a triangle XYZXYZ is equilateral (with vertices labeled in counterclockwise order) iff segment ZXZX is the rotation image of YZYZ through angle 2π/32\pi/3; representing the points by their values in the complex plane, this says XZ=ω(ZY)X - Z = \omega(Z - Y) or, equivalently, X+ωY+ω2Z=0X + \omega Y + \omega^{2} Z = 0. In particular, when Y=0Y = 0, we get X=ω2ZX = -\omega^{2} Z.

Now, position the given points so that OO is at the origin; then the given yields B=ω2AB = -\omega^{2} A, D=ω2CD = -\omega^{2} C, F=ω2EF = -\omega^{2} E. Also, clearly K=(B+C)/2K = (B + C)/2, L=(D+E)/2L = (D + E)/2, M=(F+A)/2M = (F + A)/2. Thus
K+ωL+ω2M=(ω2A+B+C+ωD+ωE+ω2F)/2=(ω2Aω2A+CC+ωEωE)/2=0 K + \omega L + \omega^{2} M = \left(\omega^{2} A + B + C + \omega D + \omega E + \omega^{2} F\right)/2 = \left(\omega^{2} A - \omega^{2} A + C - C + \omega E - \omega E\right)/2 = 0
giving what we need.

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