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Geometry Difficulty 6.8 National Olympiad Prove it JBMO

Problem:
Let MNPQM N P Q be a square of side length 11, and A,B,C,DA, B, C, D points on the sides MNM N, NPN P, PQP Q, and QMQ M respectively such that ACBD=54A C \cdot B D = \frac{5}{4}. Can the set {AB,BC,CD,DA}\{A B, B C, C D, D A\} be partitioned into two subsets S1S_{1} and S2S_{2} of two elements each, so that each one of the sums of the elements of S1S_{1} and S2S_{2} are positive integers?

Solution

Solution:
The answer is negative.
Suppose such a partitioning was possible (Figure 7). Then AB+BC+CD+DANA B + B C + C D + D A \in \mathbb{N}. But (AB+BC)+(CD+DA)>AC+AC2(A B + B C) + (C D + D A) > A C + A C \geq 2, hence AB+BC+CD+DA>2A B + B C + C D + D A > 2.

On the other hand, AB+BC+CD+DA<(AN+NB)+(BP+PC)+(CQ+QD)+(DM+MA)=4A B + B C + C D + D A < (A N + N B) + (B P + P C) + (C Q + Q D) + (D M + M A) = 4, hence AB+BC+CD+DA=3A B + B C + C D + D A = 3.

Obviously one of the sums of the elements of S1S_{1} and S2S_{2} must be 11 and the other 22. Without any loss of generality, we may assume that the sum of the elements of S1S_{1} is 11 and the sum of the elements of S2S_{2} is 22. As AB+BC>AC1A B + B C > A C \geq 1 we find that S1{AB,BC}S_{1} \neq \{A B, B C\}. Similarly, S1S_{1} cannot contain two adjacent sides of the quadrilateral ABCDA B C D. Therefore, without any loss of generality, we may assume that S1={AD,BC}S_{1} = \{A D, B C\} and S2={AB,CD}S_{2} = \{A B, C D\}. Then AD+BC=1A D + B C = 1 and AB+CD=2A B + C D = 2.

We have ADBC14(AD+CB)2=14A D \cdot B C \leq \frac{1}{4} (A D + C B)^2 = \frac{1}{4} and ABCD14(AB+CD)2=1A B \cdot C D \leq \frac{1}{4} (A B + C D)^2 = 1.

According to Ptolemy's inequality, we have
54=ACBDABCD+ADBC=14+1=54 \frac{5}{4} = A C \cdot B D \leq A B \cdot C D + A D \cdot B C = \frac{1}{4} + 1 = \frac{5}{4}
hence we have equality all around, which means the quadrilateral ABCDA B C D is cyclic, AD=BC=12A D = B C = \frac{1}{2} and AB=CD=1A B = C D = 1, hence ABCDA B C D is a rectangle of dimensions 11 and 12\frac{1}{2}.

There are many different ways of proving that this configuration is not possible. For example:

- Suppose ABCDA B C D is a rectangle with AD=12A D = \frac{1}{2}, AB=1A B = 1. Then we have AC=BD=52A C = B D = \frac{\sqrt{5}}{2} and ANBCQD\triangle A N B \equiv \triangle C Q D (Angle-Side-Angle). Denoting AM=xA M = x, MD=yM D = y we have AN=A N =

Figure 1

Figure 7: Exercise G7.

1x1 - x, BN=1yB N = 1 - y and the following conditions need to be fulfilled for some x,y[0,1]x, y \in [0, 1] (Pythagorean Theorem in triangles AMDA M D, ANBA N B, BBCB B' C, where BB' is the projection of BB on MQM Q):
x2+y2=14,(1x)2+(1y)2=1 and 1+(2y1)2=54 x^2 + y^2 = \frac{1}{4}, \quad (1 - x)^2 + (1 - y)^2 = 1 \text{ and } 1 + (2y - 1)^2 = \frac{5}{4}
But 1+(2y1)2=541 + (2y - 1)^2 = \frac{5}{4} implies y{14,34}y \in \left\{\frac{1}{4}, \frac{3}{4}\right\}. If y=34y = \frac{3}{4}, then x2+y2=14x^2 + y^2 = \frac{1}{4} cannot hold. If on the other hand y=14y = \frac{1}{4}, then (1x)2+(1y)2=1(1 - x)^2 + (1 - y)^2 = 1 implies x=0x = 0, but then (1x)2+(1y)2=1(1 - x)^2 + (1 - y)^2 = 1 cannot hold. Therefore such a configuration is not possible.

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