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Geometry Difficulty 6.7 National olympiad Prove it Asia Pacific Mathematics Olympiad (APMO)

Consider all the triangles ABCA B C which have a fixed base ABA B and whose altitude from CC is a constant hh. For which of these triangles is the product of its altitudes a maximum?

Solution

Let hah_{a} and hbh_{b} be the altitudes from AA and BB, respectively. Then
ABhAChbBCha=8(area of ABC)3=(ABh)3, \begin{aligned} A B \cdot h \cdot A C \cdot h_{b} \cdot B C \cdot h_{a} &= 8 \cdot (\text{area of } \triangle A B C)^3 \\ &= (A B \cdot h)^3, \end{aligned}
which is a constant. So the product hhahbh \cdot h_{a} \cdot h_{b} attains its maximum when the product ACBCA C \cdot B C attains its minimum.

Since
(sinC)ACBC=BCha=2area of ABC, \begin{aligned} (\sin C) \cdot A C \cdot B C &= B C \cdot h_{a} \\ &= 2 \cdot \text{area of } \triangle A B C, \end{aligned}
which is a constant, ACBCA C \cdot B C attains its minimum when sinC\sin C reaches its maximum. There are two cases:

a. hAB/2h \leq A B / 2. Then there exists a triangle ABCA B C which has a right angle at CC, and for precisely such a triangle sinC\sin C attains its maximum, namely 11.

b. h>AB/2h > A B / 2. In this case the angle at CC is acute and assumes its maximum when the triangle is isosceles.

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