Maths Olympiad Prep

Library / /25 of 31

Geometry Difficulty 6.1 National olympiad Prove it Estonia

On the sides BCBC, CACA and ABAB of triangle ABCABC, respectively, points DD, EE and FF are chosen. Prove that
12(BC+CA+AB)<AD+BE+CF<32(BC+CA+AB). \frac{1}{2} (BC + CA + AB) < AD + BE + CF < \frac{3}{2} (BC + CA + AB).

Solutions — 2

Solution 1

Let us first prove the second inequality. Consider the circle with centre AA that passes through the vertex CC and consider the extension of the side CBCB past the vertex BB up to this circle (Fig. 5). As a chord lies inside the circle, we have ADACAD \le AC. We also have BEmax(BC,BA)=BCBE \le \max(BC, BA) = BC and CFmax(CA,CB)=CBCF \le \max(CA, CB) = CB. Since by the triangle inequality 12BC<12CA+12AB\frac{1}{2}BC < \frac{1}{2}CA + \frac{1}{2}AB, we obtain AD+BE+CF2BC+CA<32BC+32CA+12AB<32(BC+CA+AB)AD + BE + CF \le 2BC + CA < \frac{3}{2}BC + \frac{3}{2}CA + \frac{1}{2}AB < \frac{3}{2}(BC + CA + AB).

Let us now prove the first inequality. If the triangle is not acute then BEBABE \ge BA and CFCACF \ge CA (Fig. 6). Since by the triangle inequality we have 12BC<12CA+12AB\frac{1}{2}BC < \frac{1}{2}CA + \frac{1}{2}AB, we obtain AD+BE+CFAD+BA+CA>BA+CA>12(BC+CA+AB)AD + BE + CF \ge AD + BA + CA > BA + CA > \frac{1}{2}(BC + CA + AB). For an acute triangle we have ADAKAD \ge AK, BEBLBE \ge BL and CFCMCF \ge CM, where AKAK, BLBL and CMCM are the altitudes of the triangle ABCABC. Let HH be the intersection point of the altitudes of the triangle ABCABC (Fig. 7). We obtain AD+BE+CFAK+BL+CM>AH+BH+CH=12(BH+CH)+12(CH+AH)+12(AH+BH)>12(BC+CA+AB)AD + BE + CF \ge AK + BL + CM > AH + BH + CH = \frac{1}{2}(BH + CH) + \frac{1}{2}(CH + AH) + \frac{1}{2}(AH + BH) > \frac{1}{2}(BC + CA + AB), where the last inequality follows from the triangle inequality.

Figure 1
Fig. 5
Figure 2
Fig. 6
Figure 3
Fig. 7

Solution 2

By the triangle inequality, ABBD+ADAB \le BD + AD and ABAE+BEAB \le AE + BE, analogous inequalities hold for sides BCBC and CACA. As not all equality cases can hold simultaneously, adding these inequalities gives a strict inequality 2(BC+CA+AB)<BC+CA+AB+2(AD+BE+CF)2(BC + CA + AB) < BC + CA + AB + 2(AD + BE + CF). Collecting similar terms and dividing by 2 gives the first required inequality.

Similarly by the triangle inequality, ADAB+BDAD \le AB + BD and ADCA+CDAD \le CA + CD; analogously for BEBE and CFCF. Again, not all equality cases can hold simultaneously, whence adding these inequalities gives a strict inequality 2(AD+BE+CF)<2(BC+CA+AB)+BC+CA+AB2(AD + BE + CF) < 2(BC + CA + AB) + BC + CA + AB. Collecting similar terms and dividing by 2 leads to the second required inequality.

Want a route through all this instead of 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.