Maths Olympiad Prep

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Geometry Difficulty 5.5 AIME, harder Prove it United States

Problem:

Let P1P2P3P4P_{1} P_{2} P_{3} P_{4} be a tetrahedron in R3\mathbb{R}^{3} and let OO be a point equidistant from each of its vertices. Suppose there exists a point HH such that for each ii, the line PiHP_{i} H is perpendicular to the plane through the other three vertices. Line P1HP_{1} H intersects the plane through P2,P3,P4P_{2}, P_{3}, P_{4} at AA, and contains a point BP1B \neq P_{1} such that OP1=OBO P_{1}=O B. Show that HB=3HAH B=3 H A.

Solutions — 2

Solution 1

Solution:

Note that AA is the orthocenter of triangle P2P3P4P_{2} P_{3} P_{4} by projecting the givens about HH.

Next, let P2AP_{2} A intersect P3P4P_{3} P_{4} at CC and (P2P3P4)\left(P_{2} P_{3} P_{4}\right) at DD. Then AD=2ACA D=2 A C.

Note that HH is the orthocenter of triangle P1P2CP_{1} P_{2} C, with AA being the foot of the altitude from P1P_{1}. Thus AP2AC=AHAP1A P_{2} \cdot A C=A H \cdot A P_{1}.

Finally, by Power of a Point at AA,
AP1AB=AP2AD=2AP2AC=2AHAP1 A P_{1} \cdot A B=A P_{2} \cdot A D=2 A P_{2} \cdot A C=2 A H \cdot A P_{1}
Thus AB=2AHA B=2 A H which gives HB=3HAH B=3 H A, as desired.

Solution 2

Solution:

We use vectors with HH as the origin. Then Pi(PjPk)=0P_{i} \cdot\left(P_{j}-P_{k}\right)=0 from the definition of HH. Thus PiPj=PiPkP_{i} \cdot P_{j}=P_{i} \cdot P_{k} for any distinct i,j,ki, j, k. In particular, the quantity PiPjP_{i} \cdot P_{j} is a constant over all distinct choices of i,ji, j. Let this value be DD. Let
O=12(P1+P2+P3+P4) O' = \frac{1}{2}\left(P_{1}+P_{2}+P_{3}+P_{4}\right)
We claim O=OO' = O. To see this, note that
(OP1)(OP1)=14(P2+P3+P4P1)(P2+P3+P4P1) \left(O' - P_{1}\right) \cdot\left(O' - P_{1}\right)=\frac{1}{4}\left(P_{2}+P_{3}+P_{4}-P_{1}\right) \cdot\left(P_{2}+P_{3}+P_{4}-P_{1}\right)
will be symmetric after expanding. Thus OO' is equidistant from the PiP_{i}'s, which means O=OO' = O.

Now, the projection of OO onto P1HP_{1} H is OP1P1P1P1\frac{O \cdot P_{1}}{P_{1} \cdot P_{1}} P_{1}, so
B=P1((2OP1)P1P1P1)=P1(3DP1P1) B = P_{1}\left(\frac{\left(2 O - P_{1}\right) \cdot P_{1}}{P_{1} \cdot P_{1}}\right) = P_{1}\left(\frac{3 D}{P_{1} \cdot P_{1}}\right)
Meanwhile, AA is the projection of P2P_{2} on P1HP_{1} H, so
A=P1(P1P2P1P1)=P1(DP1P1) A = P_{1}\left(\frac{P_{1} \cdot P_{2}}{P_{1} \cdot P_{1}}\right) = P_{1}\left(\frac{D}{P_{1} \cdot P_{1}}\right)
Thus HB=3HAH B=3 H A, as desired.

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