Maths Olympiad Prep

Library / /215 of 462

Geometry Difficulty 5.7 AIME, harder Prove it Ireland

Suppose a,b,ca, b, c are the side lengths of a triangle ABCABC. Let
x=b+c2,y=c+a2,z=a+b2. x = \frac{b+c}{2}, \quad y = \frac{c+a}{2}, \quad z = \frac{a+b}{2}.
Show that x,y,zx, y, z are the side lengths of a triangle XYZXYZ, with the same perimeter as ABCABC, but with a bigger area, unless ABCABC is equilateral.

Solution

First of all, for instance, x<y+zx < y + z, because
2x=b+c<2a+b+c=(c+a)+(a+b)=2y+2z. 2x = b + c < 2a + b + c = (c + a) + (a + b) = 2y + 2z.
Thus, x,y,zx, y, z are the side lengths of a triangle. Next, x+y+z=a+b+c=2sx + y + z = a + b + c = 2s, in the usual notation. Hence, ABC\triangle ABC and XYZ\triangle XYZ have the same perimeter. Now, by Heron's formula, the area of XYZ\triangle XYZ is given by (XYZ)=s(sx)(sy)(sz)(XYZ) = \sqrt{s(s-x)(s-y)(s-z)}. But,
sx=2s(b+c)2=a2,sy=2s(c+a)2=b2,sz=2s(a+b)2=c2 s-x = \frac{2s-(b+c)}{2} = \frac{a}{2}, \quad s-y = \frac{2s-(c+a)}{2} = \frac{b}{2}, \quad s-z = \frac{2s-(a+b)}{2} = \frac{c}{2}
and so
(sx)(sy)(sz)=abc8. (s-x)(s-y)(s-z) = \frac{abc}{8}.
Thus, (XYZ)2=abc/s(XYZ)^2 = abc/s, and so, since (ABC)2=s(sa)(sb)(sc)(ABC)^2 = s(s-a)(s-b)(s-c), we must show that
abc8(sa)(sb)(sc), abc \geq 8(s-a)(s-b)(s-c),
with equality iff a=b=ca = b = c. Now
2(sa)(sb)sa+sb=c, 2\sqrt{(s-a)(s-b)} \leq s-a+s-b=c,
with equality iff a=ba = b. Hence,
8(sa)(sb)(sc)=(2(sa)(sb))(2(sb)(sc))(2(sc)(sa))cab, 8(s-a)(s-b)(s-c) = (2\sqrt{(s-a)(s-b)}) (2\sqrt{(s-b)(s-c)}) (2\sqrt{(s-c)(s-a)}) \leq cab,
with equality iff a=b=ca = b = c.

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 reproduced verbatim; metadata (topic, difficulty) added by this project.