Maths Olympiad Prep

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, 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 aba \le b, then mambm_a \ge m_b. Indeed, we have
ma2mb2=2(b2+c2)a242(a2+c2)b24=34(b2a2)0,and hence mamb. 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 abca \le b \le c, then mambmcm_a \ge m_b \ge m_c. From the given relations we have
ab=23(mamb)0andbc=23(mbmc)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, abca \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 ss'. Also, these triangles have the same areas. From Heron's formula it follows that
s(sa)(sb)(sc)=s(sa)(sb)(sc), s'(s' - a)(s' - b')(s' - c') = s'(s' - a')(s' - b)(s' - c'),
so ab=abab' = a'b. Similarly, ac=acac' = a'c and bc=bcbc' = 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)=1802(\alpha + \beta + \gamma) = 180^\circ, so α+β+γ=90\alpha + \beta + \gamma = 90^\circ. It follows that BBC^=90\widehat{BB'C} = 90^\circ, that is BBBB' is altitude. Similarly, the other medians are altitudes, hence triangle ABCABC is equilateral.

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