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Slovenian Mathematical Olympiad, 2008

Geometry Difficulty 6.2 National Olympiad Prove it Slovenia

In an acute triangle ABCABC we have ∣AC∣>∣AB∣|AC| > |AB|. Let DD and EE be two points on the sides ACAC and ABAB such that ∣CD∣=∣BE∣|CD| = |BE|. Denote the intersection of the segments BDBD and CECE by FF and let GG be a point on the segment ACAC such that the line GFGF is parallel to the bisector of the angle ∠BAC\angle BAC. Prove that ∣CG∣=∣AB∣|CG| = |AB|.

Solution

Denote the intersection of lines ABAB and FGFG by HH and let JJ be the point where the bisector of the angle ∠BAC\angle BAC meets the segment BCBC. Since the line FGFG is parallel to AJAJ, we have ∠HGA=∠FGD=∠BAJ=∠AHG\angle HGA = \angle FGD = \angle BAJ = \angle AHG, so the triangle GAHGAH is isosceles and ∣AH∣=∣AG∣|AH| = |AG|. We know that ∣BE∣=∣CD∣|BE| = |CD| and from what we just proved ∣AH∣=∣AG∣|AH| = |AG|. It remains to be seen that ∣CG∣=∣AB∣|CG| = |AB|. The figure reveals no similar triangles, so we have to find a different way to use the equality of lengths. Lengths play an important role in Ceva's and Menelaus's theorem. The former does not apply here, but we can try to use the latter.

Menelaus's theorem for the triangle AECAEC and the line GFGF states that
∣AH∣∣HE∣⋅∣EF∣∣FC∣⋅∣CG∣∣GA∣=1, \frac{|AH|}{|HE|} \cdot \frac{|EF|}{|FC|} \cdot \frac{|CG|}{|GA|} = 1,
and since ∣AH∣=∣AG∣|AH| = |AG| we get ∣CG∣∣HE∣=∣FC∣∣EF∣\frac{|CG|}{|HE|} = \frac{|FC|}{|EF|}. Now, let us try to express the ratio ∣FC∣∣EF∣\frac{|FC|}{|EF|} in another way. Menelaus's theorem for the triangle AECAEC and the line BFBF gives us
∣AB∣∣BE∣⋅∣EF∣∣FC∣⋅∣CD∣∣DA∣=1, \frac{|AB|}{|BE|} \cdot \frac{|EF|}{|FC|} \cdot \frac{|CD|}{|DA|} = 1,
and since ∣BE∣=∣CD∣|BE| = |CD| we have ∣AB∣∣DA∣=∣FC∣∣EF∣\frac{|AB|}{|DA|} = \frac{|FC|}{|EF|}. Hence, ∣AB∣∣DA∣=∣CG∣∣HE∣\frac{|AB|}{|DA|} = \frac{|CG|}{|HE|}. This is equivalent to
∣AE∣+∣EB∣∣AG∣+∣GD∣=∣CD∣+∣DG∣∣AH∣+∣AE∣, \frac{|AE| + |EB|}{|AG| + |GD|} = \frac{|CD| + |DG|}{|AH| + |AE|},
which implies ∣AE∣2+∣AE∣(∣EB∣+∣AH∣)=∣GD∣2+∣GD∣(∣AG∣+∣CD∣)|AE|^2 + |AE|(|EB| + |AH|) = |GD|^2 + |GD|(|AG| + |CD|). Since ∣AG∣+∣CD∣=∣EB∣+∣AH∣|AG| + |CD| = |EB| + |AH|, we have
0=∣AE∣2−∣GD∣2+∣AE∣(∣EB∣+∣AH∣)−∣GD∣(∣EB∣+∣AH∣)=(∣AE∣−∣GD∣)(∣AE∣+∣GD∣+∣EB∣+∣AH∣), \begin{aligned} 0 &= |AE|^2 - |GD|^2 + |AE|(|EB| + |AH|) - |GD|(|EB| + |AH|) \\ &= (|AE| - |GD|)(|AE| + |GD| + |EB| + |AH|), \end{aligned}
so ∣AE∣=∣GD∣|AE| = |GD|, and, finally, ∣AB∣=∣AE∣+∣EB∣=∣GD∣+∣DC∣=∣GC∣|AB| = |AE| + |EB| = |GD| + |DC| = |GC|, which was to be shown.

Figure 1

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