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Cesenatico

Geometry Difficulty 6.1 National Olympiad Prove it Italy

Problem:

In triangle ABCABC suppose we have a>ba > b, where a=BCa = BC and b=ACb = AC. Let MM be the midpoint of ABAB, and let α\alpha and β\beta be the circles inscribed, respectively, in triangles ACMACM and BCMBCM. Let A′A^{\prime} and B′B^{\prime} be the points of tangency of α\alpha and β\beta with CMCM. Prove that A′B′=a−b2A^{\prime}B^{\prime} = \frac{a-b}{2}.

Solution

Solution:

Let us call x=MA′x = MA^{\prime}, y=MB′y = MB^{\prime}, r=CA′r = CA^{\prime}, s=CB′s = CB^{\prime}. It is clear that
A′B′=x−y=s−r. A^{\prime}B^{\prime} = x - y = s - r.
Let us denote by A2A_{2} and A3A_{3} the points of tangency of ABAB and ACAC with α\alpha, and by B2B_{2} and B3B_{3} the points of tangency of ABAB and BCBC with β\beta.

Figure 1

Now let us repeatedly use the fact that, drawing the tangents from a point XX external to a circle γ\gamma, and calling MM and NN the points of tangency, we have XM=XNXM = XN.
We have that x=MA2x = MA_{2}, y=MB2y = MB_{2}, r=CA3r = CA_{3}, s=CB′s = CB^{\prime}. Let us then set
t=AA2=AA3,u=BB2=BB3. t = AA_{2} = AA_{3}, \quad u = BB_{2} = BB_{3}.
Since MM is the midpoint of ABAB, we have x+t=y+ux + t = y + u. On the other hand, t=b−rt = b - r, u=a−su = a - s, from which x+b−r=y+a−sx + b - r = y + a - s and therefore
(x−y)+(s−r)=a−b. (x - y) + (s - r) = a - b.
Since a−b>0a - b > 0, in (1) the ++ sign holds and the claim is proved.

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