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Geometry Difficulty 8.7 Shortlist Prove it Turkey

Let ABCABC be a triangle with incenter II such that AB<BC<CA|AB| < |BC| < |CA|. Let HA,HB,HCH_A, H_B, H_C be the orthocenters of the triangles IBC,IAC,IABIBC, IAC, IAB, respectively. Let KAK_A and LAL_A be points on BCBC such that KAHBHCK_A \in H_B H_C and ILAHBHCIL_A \perp H_B H_C. Define KB,LB,KC,LCK_B, L_B, K_C, L_C, similarly. Prove that KALA=KBLB+KCLC|K_A L_A| = |K_B L_B| + |K_C L_C|.

Solution

We will show that LA,LB,LCL_A, L_B, L_C are the midpoints of the sides, and KA,KB,KCK_A, K_B, K_C are the tangent points of the incircle to the sides in the triangle ABCABC. Note that the desired equality holds in this case. Indeed, if this is the case, we obtain

LAKA=BLABKA=ACAB2 |L_A K_A| = |BL_A| - |BK_A| = \frac{|AC| - |AB|}{2}
(AB<BC<CA|AB| < |BC| < |CA|). Similarly, we also get
LBKB=BCAB2andLCKC=ACBC2, |L_B K_B| = \frac{|BC| - |AB|}{2} \quad \text{and} \quad |L_C K_C| = \frac{|AC| - |BC|}{2},

which clearly implies KALA=KBLB+KCLC|K_A L_A| = |K_B L_B| + |K_C L_C|. Let LA,KABCL'_A, K'_A \in BC be points such that BLA=CLA|BL'_A| = |CL'_A| and IKABCIK'_A \perp BC. Define KB,LB,KC,LCK'_B, L'_B, K'_C, L'_C, similarly. Now we can complete the proof in two different ways:

First Way:

We claim that HBKAILAH_B K'_A \perp I L'_A. This completes the proof since it also means HCKAILAH_C K'_A \perp I L'_A by symmetry, which implies ILAHBHCI L'_A \perp H_B H_C and KAHBHCK'_A \in H_B H_C, so we can conclude that LA=LAL_A = L'_A and KA=KAK_A = K'_A. Let PP be the point of intersection of HBKAH_B K'_A and ILAI L'_A, and let SS be the point on IHBIH_B such that SLAIHBS L'_A \perp IH_B. Since ISKALAISK'_A L'_A is a cyclic quadrilateral, we find PLAS=ILAS=IKAS\overline{P L'_A S} = \overline{I L'_A S} = \overline{I K'_A S}. Therefore, if we prove that IKAS=KAHBI\overline{I K'_A S} = \overline{K'_A H_B I}, we get PHBS=PHBI=PLAS\overline{P H_B S} = \overline{P H_B I} = \overline{P L'_A S}, which means LAPSHBL'_A P S H_B is cyclic and HBPLA=HSLA=90\overline{H_B P L'_A} = \overline{H_S L'_A} = 90^\circ. As a result, it suffices to show that IKAS=KAHBI\overline{I K'_A S} = \overline{K'_A H_B I}, which is equivalent to ISIHB=IKA2=r2|IS||IH_B| = |I K'_A|^2 = r^2 where rr is the inradius of the triangle ABCABC. Since AIC=90+B^2\overline{AIC} = 90^\circ + \frac{\hat{B}}{2}, the Sine theorem gives IHBAC=tanB^2=ruAC\frac{|IH_B|}{|AC|} = \tan \frac{\hat{B}}{2} = \frac{r}{u - |AC|}. On the other hand, we have IS=hB2r=urACr|IS| = \frac{h_B}{2} - r = \frac{ur}{|AC|} - r because LASACL'_A S \parallel AC. Therefore, we get ISIHB=ACruACr(uAC)AC=r2|IS||IH_B| = \frac{|AC|r}{u - |AC|} \frac{r(u - |AC|)}{|AC|} = r^2, so the result follows.

Second Way:

We claim HBHCH_B H_C is the polar line of LAL'_A with respect to the incircle, which completes the proof easily. Let NN be the point on ICIC such that BNICBN \perp IC. Since BLA=CLA|BL'_A| = |CL'_A|, we have NLAB=2NCB=C^\overline{NL'_A B} = 2 \cdot \overline{NCB} = \hat{C}. This implies NLAACNL'_A \parallel AC, in other words we get NLALCN \in L'_A L'_C. On the other hand, we obtain 180NKCI=NBI=90IBCICB=IKCKB180^\circ - \overline{NK'_C I} = \overline{NBI} = 90^\circ - \overline{IBC} - \overline{ICB} = IK'_C K'_B since N,KC,I,BN, K'_C, I, B are concyclic, so we obtain NKBKCN \in K'_B K'_C.

Now, NKBKCN \in K'_B K'_C means that NN lies on the polar line of AA, so we can say that AA lies on the polar line of NN. Since AHBINAH_B \perp IN, we get AHBAH_B is the polar line of NN, which implies NN lies on the polar line of HBH_B. On the other hand, we have LALCIHBL'_A L'_C \perp IH_B and NLALCN \in L'_A L'_C, so we can conclude that LALCL'_A L'_C is the polar line of HBH_B. Similarly, we obtain LALBL'_A L'_B is the polar line of HCH_C, which implies that HBHCH_B H_C is the polar line of LAL'_A, so the result follows.

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