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Geometry Difficulty 6.1 National Olympiad Prove it Taiwan

Let DEF\triangle DEF be an equilateral triangle inscribed in ABC\triangle ABC, and let D1,D2,D3D_1, D_2, D_3 be the midpoints of BD,DCBD, DC and BCBC respectively. Let E1,E2,E3E_1, E_2, E_3 be the midpoints of CE,EACE, EA and CACA respectively, and let F1,F2,F3F_1, F_2, F_3 be the midpoints of AF,FBAF, FB and ABAB respectively. Take three points P,Q,RP, Q, R outside ABC\triangle ABC such that PD1D2,QE1E2,RF1F2\triangle PD_1D_2, \triangle QE_1E_2, \triangle RF_1F_2 are all equilateral triangles. Let the centroids of PDD3,QEE3,RFF3\triangle PDD_3, \triangle QEE_3, \triangle RFF_3 be M1,M2,M3M_1, M_2, M_3 respectively. Prove that: M1M2M3\triangle M_1M_2M_3 is an equilateral triangle.

Solution

Similarly M2=13(C+A2+E+Q)M_2 = \frac{1}{3}\left(\frac{C+A}{2} + E + Q\right), M3=13(A+B2+F+R)M_3 = \frac{1}{3}\left(\frac{A+B}{2} + F + R\right).

Now, consider ω=cos2π3+isin2π3\omega = \cos \frac{2\pi}{3} + i \sin \frac{2\pi}{3}, and note that ω3=1\omega^3 = 1 and 1+ω+ω2=01+\omega+\omega^2=0. By the given conditions, DEF\triangle DEF is an equilateral triangle, so D+ωE+ω2F=0D+\omega E+\omega^2 F = 0. Also, PD1D2,QE1E2,RF1F2\triangle PD_1D_2, \triangle QE_1E_2, \triangle RF_1F_2 are all equilateral triangles, so:
P+ωD2+ω2D1=0P+ωC+D2+ω2B+D2=0(1) P + \omega D_2 + \omega^2 D_1 = 0 \quad \Rightarrow \quad P + \omega \frac{C+D}{2} + \omega^2 \frac{B+D}{2} = 0 \quad (1)
Q+ωE2+ω2E1=0Q+ωA+E2+ω2C+E2=0(2) Q + \omega E_2 + \omega^2 E_1 = 0 \quad \Rightarrow \quad Q + \omega \frac{A+E}{2} + \omega^2 \frac{C+E}{2} = 0 \quad (2)
R+ωF2+ω2F1=0R+ωB+F2+ω2A+F2=0(3) R + \omega F_2 + \omega^2 F_1 = 0 \quad \Rightarrow \quad R + \omega \frac{B+F}{2} + \omega^2 \frac{A+F}{2} = 0 \quad (3)
Taking (1)+(2)×ω+(3)×ω2(1) + (2) \times \omega + (3) \times \omega^2, we get:
(P+ωQ+ω2R)+(B+C2+C+A2ω+A+B2ω2)=12(D+ωE+ω2F)=0 (P + \omega Q + \omega^2 R) + \left( \frac{B+C}{2} + \frac{C+A}{2}\omega + \frac{A+B}{2}\omega^2 \right) = \frac{1}{2}(D + \omega E + \omega^2 F) = 0
Hence:
M1+ωM2+ω2M3=13{(P+ωQ+ω2R)+(B+C2+C+A2ω+A+B2ω2)+D+ωE+ω2F}=0, \begin{aligned} & M_1 + \omega M_2 + \omega^2 M_3 \\ &= \frac{1}{3}\left\{(P + \omega Q + \omega^2 R) + \left(\frac{B+C}{2} + \frac{C+A}{2}\omega + \frac{A+B}{2}\omega^2\right) + D + \omega E + \omega^2 F\right\} \\ &= 0, \end{aligned}
Therefore M1M2M3\triangle M_1M_2M_3 is an equilateral triangle.

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Source: MathNet, licensed CC-BY-4.0. Statement translated into English from zh; metadata (topic, difficulty) added by this project.