Maths Olympiad Prep

Library / Saudi Arabian Mathematical Competitions /74 of 395

Saudi Arabian Mathematical Competitions, 2012

Geometry Difficulty 4.9 AIME Prove it Saudi Arabia

Let GG be the centroid of triangle ABCABC with the side-lengths aa, bb, cc. Prove that if a+BG=b+AGa + BG = b + AG and b+CG=c+BGb + CG = c + BG, then triangle ABCABC is equilateral.

Solutions — 2

Solution 1

The relations are equivalent to
a+23mb=b+23maandb+23mc=c+23mb. a + \frac{2}{3}m_b = b + \frac{2}{3}m_a \quad \text{and} \quad b + \frac{2}{3}m_c = c + \frac{2}{3}m_b.
We will prove that if a≤ba \le b, then ma≥mbm_a \ge m_b. Indeed, we have
ma2−mb2=2(b2+c2)−a24−2(a2+c2)−b24=34(b2−a2)≥0,and hence ma≥mb. m_a^2 - m_b^2 = \frac{2(b^2 + c^2) - a^2}{4} - \frac{2(a^2 + c^2) - b^2}{4} = \frac{3}{4}(b^2 - a^2) \ge 0, \\ \text{and hence } m_a \ge m_b.
It follows that if a≤b≤ca \le b \le c, then ma≥mb≥mcm_a \ge m_b \ge m_c. From the given relations we have
a−b=23(ma−mb)≥0andb−c=23(mb−mc)≥0. a - b = \frac{2}{3}(m_a - m_b) \ge 0 \quad \text{and} \quad b - c = \frac{2}{3}(m_b - m_c) \ge 0.
That is, a≥b≥ca \ge b \ge c, and thus a=b=ca = b = c.

Solution 2

We shall use the notation in the following figure.
Figure 1
The relations in the problem imply that the triangles AGBAGB, BGCBGC, CGACGA have the same perimeter, and hence the same semiperimeter s′s'. Also, these triangles have the same areas. From Heron's formula it follows that
s′(s′−a)(s′−b′)(s′−c′)=s′(s′−a′)(s′−b)(s′−c′), s'(s' - a)(s' - b')(s' - c') = s'(s' - a')(s' - b)(s' - c'),
so ab′=a′bab' = a'b. Similarly, ac′=a′cac' = a'c and bc′=b′cbc' = b'c. Using these relations and the equality of the areas of AGBAGB, BGCBGC, CGACGA, we get BAG^=BCG^\widehat{BAG} = \widehat{BCG}, CBG^=CAG^\widehat{CBG} = \widehat{CAG}, and ABG^=ACG^\widehat{ABG} = \widehat{ACG}. Denote these angles by α\alpha, β\beta, γ\gamma respectively.
We have 2(α+β+γ)=180∘2(\alpha + \beta + \gamma) = 180^\circ, so α+β+γ=90∘\alpha + \beta + \gamma = 90^\circ. It follows that BB′C^=90∘\widehat{BB'C} = 90^\circ, that is BB′BB' is altitude. Similarly, the other medians are altitudes, hence triangle ABCABC is equilateral.

Want a route through all this instead of an archive? The track puts 2,604 problems in a working order, from Junior Challenge level to the IMO shortlist.

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