Maths Olympiad Prep

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Geometry Difficulty 5.6 AIME, harder Prove it Soviet Union

Problem:
In the acute-angled triangle ABCABC, AHAH is the longest altitude (HH lies on BCBC), MM is the midpoint of ACAC, and CDCD is an angle bisector (with DD on ABAB).

a. If AHBMAH \leq BM, prove that the angle ABC60ABC \leq 60^\circ.

b. If AH=BM=CDAH = BM = CD, prove that ABCABC is equilateral.

Solution

Solution:
As usual let aa, bb, cc be the lengths of BCBC, CACA, ABAB respectively and let AA, BB, CC denote the angles BACBAC, ABCABC, BCABCA respectively. We use trigonometry and try to express the quantities of interest in terms of aa, bb and CC.

a.
Since AHAH is the longest altitude, BCBC must be the shortest side (use area == side ×\times altitude/2/2). So b2a2b^2 \geq a^2, and c2a2c^2 \geq a^2. Using the formula c2=a2+b22abcosCc^2 = a^2 + b^2 - 2ab\cos C, we deduce that b22abcosCb^2 \geq 2ab\cos C. Hence 2b2a2+2abcosC2b^2 \geq a^2 + 2ab\cos C. After a little manipulation this gives: a2+b22abcosC43(a2+b24abcosC)a^2 + b^2 - 2ab\cos C \geq \frac{4}{3}(a^2 + \frac{b^2}{4} - ab\cos C) or c243BM2c^2 \geq \frac{4}{3}BM^2. But we are given that BMAH=bsinCBM \geq AH = b \sin C, so b2sin2Cc234\frac{b^2\sin^2 C}{c^2} \leq \frac{3}{4}. But the sine formula gives sinB=bsinCc\sin B = \frac{b\sin C}{c}, so sin2C34\sin^2 C \leq \frac{3}{4}. The triangle is acute-angled, hence B60B \leq 60^\circ.

b.
The angle bisector theorem gives ADBD=ba\frac{AD}{BD} = \frac{b}{a}, hence ADAB=ba+b\frac{AD}{AB} = \frac{b}{a + b}, so AD=bca+bAD = \frac{bc}{a + b}. Hence, using the sine formula, CDsinA=ADsinC2\frac{CD}{\sin A} = \frac{AD}{\sin \frac{C}{2}}. So CD=bcsinA(a+b)sinC2=basinC(a+b)sinC2CD = \frac{bc \sin A}{(a + b) \sin \frac{C}{2}} = \frac{ba \sin C}{(a + b) \sin \frac{C}{2}}, using the sine formula again. But we are given that CDAH=bsinCCD \geq AH = b \sin C, so aa+bsinC21\frac{a}{a + b} \sin \frac{C}{2} \geq 1. But aa is the shortest side, so aa+b12\frac{a}{a + b} \leq \frac{1}{2} and hence sinC2<12\sin \frac{C}{2} < \frac{1}{2}. The triangle is acute-angled, so C230\frac{C}{2} \leq 30^\circ, and C60C \leq 60^\circ. BCBC is the shortest side, so AA is the smallest angle and hence A60A \leq 60^\circ. Also since AHBMAH \leq BM, B60B \leq 60^\circ. But the angles sum to 180180^\circ, so they must all be 6060^\circ and hence the triangle is equilateral.

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