Maths Olympiad Prep

Library / Croatia competition problems /10 of 26

Croatia competition problems

Geometry Difficulty 5.5 AIME, harder Prove it Croatia

Let △ABC\triangle ABC be a triangle such that ∠CAB=2∠ABC\angle CAB = 2\angle ABC. A point DD is given in the interior of the triangle △ABC\triangle ABC, such that ∣AD∣=∣BD∣|AD| = |BD| and ∣CD∣=∣AC∣|CD| = |AC|. Prove that ∠ACB=3∠DCB\angle ACB = 3\angle DCB.

Solution

Let EE be the intersection of the bisector of the segment AB‾\overline{AB} with the segment BC‾\overline{BC}.
Denote β=∠ABC\beta = \angle ABC and notice that ∠ACB=180∘−3β\angle ACB = 180^\circ - 3\beta.
Since EE lies on the bisector of the segment AB‾\overline{AB}, we have ∣AE∣=∣BE∣|AE| = |BE|. Therefore, ∠BAE=∠ABC=β\angle BAE = \angle ABC = \beta. This implies ∠EAC=∠CAB−β=2β−β=β\angle EAC = \angle CAB - \beta = 2\beta - \beta = \beta.
Let FF be the other intersection of the line AEAE with the circle of radius CA‾\overline{CA} centred at CC. Since CAFCAF is an isosceles triangle (CA‾\overline{CA} and CF‾\overline{CF} are both radii of the same circle), we get ∠CFA=β\angle CFA = \beta.
Figure 1
From ∠CFA=∠BAF\angle CFA = \angle BAF we get CF∥ABCF \parallel AB (these are the angles of the transversal).
This also means that ∠BCF=∠CBA=β\angle BCF = \angle CBA = \beta, which shows that CEFCEF is an isosceles triangle.
From CF∥ABCF \parallel AB and the fact that EE is equidistant to CC and FF, we conclude that the line DEDE is the bisector of the segment CF‾\overline{CF} as well.
Thus, ∣DF∣=∣DC∣=∣CF∣|DF| = |DC| = |CF|, i.e. the triangle DFCDFC is equilateral.
Finally, we have ∠DCB=60∘−β=13(180∘−3β)=13∠ACB, i.e. ∠ACB=3∠DCB. \text{Finally, we have } \angle DCB = 60^\circ - \beta = \frac{1}{3}(180^\circ - 3\beta) = \frac{1}{3}\angle ACB, \text{ i.e. } \angle ACB = 3\angle DCB.

Want a route through all this instead of an archive? The track puts 2,604 problems in a working order, from Junior Challenge level to the IMO shortlist.

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