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Geometry Difficulty 5.4 AIME, harder Prove it Ireland

Denote by mam_a, mbm_b, mcm_c, respectively, the lengths of the medians from the vertices AA, BB, CC of a triangle ABCABC to the opposite sides, respectively. Prove that
ma+mb+mcasinA+bsinB+csinC m_a + m_b + m_c \geq a \sin A + b \sin B + c \sin C
with equality iff the triangle is equilateral.

Solution

Let the median from AA meet the side BCBC at DD, so that BD=DC=a/2|BD| = |DC| = a/2. We begin by deriving an expression for mam_a. Let θ=BDA\theta = \angle BDA.

Figure 1

By the Cosine Rule, 2BDADcosθ=AD2+BD2AB22|BD||AD| \cos \theta = |AD|^2 + |BD|^2 - |AB|^2, i.e.
ammacosθ=ma2+a24c2. am m_a \cos \theta = m_a^2 + \frac{a^2}{4} - c^2.
Similarly 2CDADcos(πθ)=AD2+CD2AC22|CD||AD| \cos(\pi - \theta) = |AD|^2 + |CD|^2 - |AC|^2, i.e.
amacosθ=ma2+a24b2. -am_a \cos \theta = m_a^2 + \frac{a^2}{4} - b^2.
Hence 4ma2=2(b2+c2)a24m_a^2 = 2(b^2 + c^2) - a^2 and so
4ma2=b2+c2+2bccosA=b2+c22bccos(B+C)=(bsinB+csinC)2+(bcosBccosC)2. \begin{aligned} 4m_a^2 &= b^2 + c^2 + 2bc \cos A \\ &= b^2 + c^2 - 2bc \cos(B + C) \\ &= (b \sin B + c \sin C)^2 + (b \cos B - c \cos C)^2. \end{aligned}
It follows that
2mabsinB+csinC, 2m_a \ge b \sin B + c \sin C,
with equality iff bcosB=ccosCb \cos B = c \cos C, equivalently, iff
b2(c2+a2b2)=c2(a2+b2c2)    (b2c2)(a2b2c2)=0. b^2(c^2 + a^2 - b^2) = c^2(a^2 + b^2 - c^2) \iff (b^2 - c^2)(a^2 - b^2 - c^2) = 0.
In other words,
2mabsinB+csinC, 2m_a \ge b \sin B + c \sin C,
and there is equality iff either b=cb = c or AA is a right-angle. In the same way we see that
2mbcsinC+asinA,and2mcasinA+bsinB, 2m_b \ge c \sin C + a \sin A, \quad \text{and} \quad 2m_c \ge a \sin A + b \sin B,
whence adding these inequalities we deduce the stated result. Moreover, the inequality is strict unless a=b=ca = b = c.

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Source: MathNet, licensed CC-BY-4.0. Statement and solution reproduced as published; topic and difficulty added by this site.