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Saudi Arabian Mathematical Competitions

Geometry Difficulty 5.7 AIME, harder Prove it Saudi Arabia

Consider a triangle ABCABC and a point PP in its interior. Lines PAPA, PBPB, PCPC intersect BCBC, CACA, ABAB at A′A', B′B', C′C', respectively. Prove that
BA′BC+CB′CA+AC′AB=32 \frac{BA'}{BC} + \frac{CB'}{CA} + \frac{AC'}{AB} = \frac{3}{2}
if and only if at least two of the triangles PABPAB, PBCPBC, PCAPCA have the same area.

Solution

Figure 1

Let AB=cAB = c, BC=aBC = a, CA=bCA = b, BA′=xBA' = x, CB′=yCB' = y, AC′=zAC' = z. The condition in the problem xa+yb+zc=32\frac{x}{a} + \frac{y}{b} + \frac{z}{c} = \frac{3}{2} is equivalent to
bcx+cay+abz=32abc \begin{equation*} bcx + cay + abz = \frac{3}{2}abc \tag{1} \end{equation*}
From Ceva's Theorem,
xa−x⋅yb−y⋅zc−z=1, \frac{x}{a-x} \cdot \frac{y}{b-y} \cdot \frac{z}{c-z} = 1,
so
xyz=(a−x)(b−y)(c−z)=abc−(bcx+cay+abz)+(axy+byz+czx)−xyz \begin{gathered} xyz = (a-x)(b-y)(c-z) = abc - (bcx + cay + abz) \\ + (axy + byz + czx) - xyz \end{gathered}
or
2xyz=14abc+34abc−(bcx+cay+abz)+(axy+byz+czx). 2xyz = \frac{1}{4}abc + \frac{3}{4}abc - (bcx + cay + abz) + (axy + byz + czx).
The (1) is equivalent to
2xyz=14abc−12(bcx+cay+abz)+(axy+byz+czx), 2xyz = \frac{1}{4}abc - \frac{1}{2}(bcx + cay + abz) + (axy + byz + czx),
which can be written as
8xyz−4(axy+byz+czx)+2(bcx+cay+abz)−abc=0 8xyz - 4(axy + byz + czx) + 2(bcx + cay + abz) - abc = 0
so (2x−a)(2y−b)(2z−c)=0(2x - a)(2y - b)(2z - c) = 0.

This means that at least one of the segments AA′AA', BB′BB', CC′CC' is a median in triangle ABCABC and the conclusion follows.

Solution 2:

Denote
x=A′CA′B,y=B′AB′C,z=C′BC′A. x = \frac{A'C}{A'B}, \quad y = \frac{B'A}{B'C}, \quad z = \frac{C'B}{C'A}.
From Ceva's Theorem, we have xyz=1xyz = 1.
The condition in the problem is equivalent to
11+x+11+y+11+z=32 \frac{1}{1+x} + \frac{1}{1+y} + \frac{1}{1+z} = \frac{3}{2}
That is
2[(x+1)(y+1)+(y+1)(z+1)+(z+1)(x+1)]=3(x+1)(y+1)(z+1) \begin{gathered} 2[(x+1)(y+1) + (y+1)(z+1) + (z+1)(x+1)] \\ = 3(x+1)(y+1)(z+1) \end{gathered}
We obtain
2(xy+yz+zx)+4(x+y+z)+6=3xyz+3(xy+yz+zx)+3(x+y+z)+3 \begin{gathered} 2(xy + yz + zx) + 4(x + y + z) + 6 = 3xyz + 3(xy + yz + zx) \\ + 3(x + y + z) + 3 \end{gathered}
hence
3xyz−(x+y+z)+(xy+yz+zx)−3=0 3xyz - (x + y + z) + (xy + yz + zx) - 3 = 0
that is
1−(x+y+z)+(xy+yz+zx)−1=0. 1 - (x + y + z) + (xy + yz + zx) - 1 = 0.
It follows
xyz−(x+y+z)+(xy+yz+zx)−1=0 xyz - (x + y + z) + (xy + yz + zx) - 1 = 0
hence
(x−1)(y−1)(z−1)=0 (x - 1)(y - 1)(z - 1) = 0
and the conclusion follows.

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