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Kanada, 2015

Geometry Difficulty 5.7 AIME, harder Prove it Canada

Let ABCABC be an acute-angled triangle with altitudes ADAD, BEBE, and CFCF. Let HH be the orthocentre, that is, the point where the altitudes meet. Prove that
AB⋅AC+BC⋅BA+CA⋅CBAH⋅AD+BH⋅BE+CH⋅CF≤2. \frac{AB \cdot AC + BC \cdot BA + CA \cdot CB}{AH \cdot AD + BH \cdot BE + CH \cdot CF} \le 2.

Solution

Method 1: Let AB=cAB = c, AC=bAC = b, and BC=aBC = a denote the three side lengths of the triangle.
As ∠BFH=∠BDH=90∘\angle BFH = \angle BDH = 90^\circ, FHDBFHDB is a cyclic quadrilateral. By the Power-of-a-Point Theorem, AH⋅AD=AF⋅ABAH \cdot AD = AF \cdot AB. (We can derive this result in other ways: for example, see Method 2, below.)
Since AF=AC⋅cos⁡∠AAF = AC \cdot \cos \angle A, we have AH⋅AD=AC⋅AB⋅cos⁡∠A=bccos⁡∠AAH \cdot AD = AC \cdot AB \cdot \cos \angle A = bc \cos \angle A.

By the Cosine Law, cos⁡∠A=b2+c2−a22bc\cos \angle A = \frac{b^2 + c^2 - a^2}{2bc}, which implies that AH⋅AD=b2+c2−a22AH \cdot AD = \frac{b^2 + c^2 - a^2}{2}.
By symmetry, we can show that BH⋅BE=a2+c2−b22BH \cdot BE = \frac{a^2 + c^2 - b^2}{2} and CH⋅CF=a2+b2−c22CH \cdot CF = \frac{a^2 + b^2 - c^2}{2}.
Hence,
AH⋅AD+BH⋅BE+CH⋅CF=b2+c2−a22+a2+c2−b22+a2+b2−c22=a2+b2+c22.(1) \begin{aligned} AH \cdot AD + BH \cdot BE + CH \cdot CF &= \frac{b^2 + c^2 - a^2}{2} + \frac{a^2 + c^2 - b^2}{2} + \frac{a^2 + b^2 - c^2}{2} \\ &= \frac{a^2 + b^2 + c^2}{2}. \qquad (1) \end{aligned}
Our desired inequality, AB⋅AC+BC⋅BA+CA⋅CBAH⋅AD+BH⋅BE+CH⋅CF≤2\frac{AB \cdot AC + BC \cdot BA + CA \cdot CB}{AH \cdot AD + BH \cdot BE + CH \cdot CF} \le 2, is equivalent to the inequality cb+ac+baa2+b2+c22≤2\frac{cb + ac + ba}{\frac{a^2+b^2+c^2}{2}} \le 2, which simplifies to 2a2+2b2+2c2≥2ab+2bc+2ca2a^2 + 2b^2 + 2c^2 \ge 2ab + 2bc + 2ca.
But this last inequality is easy to prove, as it is equivalent to (a−b)2+(a−c)2+(b−c)2≥0(a-b)^2+(a-c)^2+(b-c)^2 \ge 0.
Therefore, we have established the desired inequality. The proof also shows that equality occurs if and only if a=b=ca = b = c, i.e., △ABC\triangle ABC is equilateral. □\square

Method 2: Observe that
AEAH=cos⁡(∠HAE)=ADACandAFAH=cos⁡(∠HAF)=ADAB. \frac{AE}{AH} = \cos(\angle HAE) = \frac{AD}{AC} \quad \text{and} \quad \frac{AF}{AH} = \cos(\angle HAF) = \frac{AD}{AB}.
It follows that
AC⋅AE=AH⋅AD=AB⋅AF. AC \cdot AE = AH \cdot AD = AB \cdot AF.
By symmetry, we similarly have
BC⋅BD=BH⋅BE=BF⋅BAandCD⋅CB=CH⋅CF=CE⋅CA. BC \cdot BD = BH \cdot BE = BF \cdot BA \quad \text{and} \quad CD \cdot CB = CH \cdot CF = CE \cdot CA.
Therefore
2(AH⋅AD+BH⋅BE+CH⋅CF)=AB(AF+BF)+AC(AE+CE)+BC(BD+CD)=AB2+AC2+BC2. \begin{aligned} & 2(AH \cdot AD + BH \cdot BE + CH \cdot CF) \\ &= AB(AF + BF) + AC(AE + CE) + BC(BD + CD) \\ &= AB^2 + AC^2 + BC^2. \end{aligned}
This proves Equation (1) in Method 1. The rest of the proof is the same as the part of the proof of Method 1 that follows Equation (1). □\square

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