Maths Olympiad Prep

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Geometry Difficulty 4.2 AIME Prove it Soviet Union

Problem:
Given the lengths ABAB and BCBC and the fact that the medians to those two sides are perpendicular, construct the triangle ABCABC.

Solution

Solution:
Let MM be the midpoint of ABAB and XX the midpoint of MBMB. Construct the circle center BB, radius BC/2BC/2 and the circle diameter AXAX. If they do not intersect (so BC<AB/2BC < AB/2 or BC>ABBC > AB) then the construction is not possible. If they intersect at NN, then take CC so that NN is the midpoint of BCBC. Let CMCM meet ANAN at OO. Then AO/AN=AM/AX=2/3AO/AN = AM/AX = 2/3, so the triangles AOMAOM and ANXANX are similar. Hence AOM=ANX=90\angle AOM = \angle ANX = 90^{\circ}.

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