Maths Olympiad Prep

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Geometry Difficulty 4.9 AIME Prove it Ibero-American Mathematical Olympiad

Problem:

The sides of a triangle form an arithmetic progression. The altitudes also form an arithmetic progression. Show that the triangle must be equilateral.

Solution

Solution:

Let the sides be aa, a+da + d, a+2da + 2d with d0d \geq 0. Then the altitudes are k/ak / a, k/(a+d)k / (a + d), k/(a+2d)k / (a + 2d), where kk is twice the area. We claim that k/a+k/(a+2d)>2k/(a+d)k / a + k / (a + 2d) > 2k / (a + d) unless d=0d = 0. This is equivalent to (a+d)(a+2d)+a(a+d)>2a(a+2d)(a + d)(a + 2d) + a(a + d) > 2a(a + 2d) or 2d2>02d^2 > 0, which is obviously true. So the altitudes can only form an arithmetic progression if d=0d = 0 and hence the triangle is equilateral.

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