Maths Olympiad Prep

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Geometry Difficulty 5.7 AIME, harder Prove it Argentina

Let ABCABC be a right triangle. It is known that there are points DD on side ACAC and EE on side BCBC such that AB=AD=BEAB = AD = BE and BDDEBD \perp DE. Find ABBC\frac{AB}{BC} and BCCA\frac{BC}{CA}.

Solution

Denote BC=aBC = a, CA=bCA = b, AB=cAB = c. The assumptions imply cac \le a, cbc \le b. First we prove that b+c=2ab + c = 2a, without using the condition that ABCABC is a right triangle.

Let FF be the midpoint of BEBE. By BDDEBD \perp DE triangle BEDBED is right at DD, so DFDF is the median to its hypotenuse BEBE. Hence
BF=DF=EF=12BE. BF = DF = EF = \frac{1}{2} BE.
On the other hand AB=ADAB = AD, so AFAF and FF are equidistant from the endpoints of BDBD. Hence AFAF is the perpendicular bisector of BDBD. Because triangle BDABDA is isosceles with base BDBD, it follows that AFAF is the bisector of AA.

By the bisector property ABBF=ACCF\frac{AB}{BF} = \frac{AC}{CF}. Replacing AB=cAB = c, BF=c2BF = \frac{c}{2}, AC=bAC = b, CF=ac2CF = a - \frac{c}{2} yields
c2=bac2. \frac{c}{2} = \frac{b}{a - \frac{c}{2}}.
In particular BC=aBC = a is the middle side of ABCABC, and since AB=cAB = c is the shortest one, the hypotenuse of the triangle is AC=bAC = b. Thus b2=a2+c2b^2 = a^2 + c^2 by Pythagoras theorem. Combined with b=2acb = 2a - c this yields (2ac)2=a2+c2(2a - c)^2 = a^2 + c^2, which reduces to 3a=4c3a = 4c. Hence a=4da = 4d, c=3dc = 3d with
d>0, and b=a2+c2=5d. d > 0, \text{ and } b = \sqrt{a^2 + c^2} = 5d.

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