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Geometry Difficulty 5.7 AIME, harder Prove it Greece

In the triangle ABCABC, the angle α=A^\alpha = \hat{A} and the side a=BCa = |BC| are given. It is known that a=rRa = \sqrt{rR}, where rr is the inradius and RR is the circumradius. Determine all such triangles, that is, compute the sides bb and cc of all such triangles.

Solution

According to the cosine rule we have
b2+c22bccosA=a2.(1) b^2 + c^2 - 2bc \cos A = a^2. \quad (1)
If τ=a+b+c2\tau = \frac{a+b+c}{2} the given condition can be written as
a2=rR=(ABC)τasinA=bcsinA(a+b+c)sinAa2=abca+b+cbc2a(b+c)=2a2.(2) a^2 = rR = \frac{(ABC)}{\tau} \cdot \frac{a}{\sin A} = \frac{bc \sin A}{(a+b+c) \sin A} \Leftrightarrow a^2 = \frac{abc}{a+b+c} \\ \Leftrightarrow bc - 2a(b+c) = 2a^2. \qquad (2)
We write (1) in the form
(b+c)2(1+cosA)bc=a2.(3) (b+c)^2 - (1+\cos A)bc = a^2. \qquad (3)
Since b+c>0b+c > 0, from (2) and (3) we find
b+c=a(1+8cos2A2)(4) b+c = a \left(1 + 8 \cos^2 \frac{A}{2}\right) \qquad (4)
bc=4a2(1+4cos2A2)(5) bc = 4a^2 \left(1 + 4 \cos^2 \frac{A}{2}\right) \qquad (5)
From (3) and (4) it follows that bb and cc are the solutions of the quadratic equation
t2a(1+8cos2A2)t+4a2(1+4cos2A2)=0t2a(5+4cosA)t+4a2(3+2cosA)=0t=a2[5+4cosA±16cos2A+8cosA23], \begin{aligned} & t^2 - a \left(1 + 8 \cos^2 \frac{A}{2}\right) t + 4a^2 \left(1 + 4 \cos^2 \frac{A}{2}\right) = 0 \\ \Leftrightarrow & t^2 - a(5 + 4 \cos A)t + 4a^2(3 + 2 \cos A) = 0 \\ \Leftrightarrow & t = \frac{a}{2} \left[5 + 4 \cos A \pm \sqrt{16 \cos^2 A + 8 \cos A - 23}\right], \end{aligned}
provided that 16cos2A+8cosA23016 \cos^2 A + 8 \cos A - 23 \ge 0. Considering the trinomial f(x)=16x2+8x23f(x) = 16x^2 + 8x - 23 we have
f(x)0x1244 or x2414. f(x) \ge 0 \Leftrightarrow x \le \frac{-1-\sqrt{24}}{4} \text{ or } x \ge \frac{\sqrt{24}-1}{4}.
The first condition cannot be satisfied. From the second condition we have
cosA24140<Aarccos2414. \cos A \ge \frac{\sqrt{24}-1}{4} \Leftrightarrow 0 < A \le \arccos \frac{\sqrt{24}-1}{4}.

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