Maths Olympiad Prep

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Geometry Difficulty 5.7 AIME, harder Prove it United States

Problem:
Let ABCABC be a triangle, and let points PP and QQ lie on BCBC such that PP is closer to BB than QQ is. Suppose that the radii of the incircles of triangles ABPABP, APQAPQ, and AQCAQC are all equal to 11, and that the radii of the corresponding excircles opposite AA are 33, 66, and 55, respectively. If the radius of the incircle of triangle ABCABC is 32\frac{3}{2}, find the radius of the excircle of triangle ABCABC opposite AA.

Solution

Solution:
Let tt denote the radius of the excircle of triangle ABCABC opposite AA.

Lemma: Let ABCABC be a triangle, and let rr and rAr_A be the inradius and exradius opposite AA. Then
rrA=tanB2tanC2 \frac{r}{r_A} = \tan \frac{B}{2} \tan \frac{C}{2}
Proof. Let II and JJ denote the incenter and the excenter with respect to AA. Let DD and EE be the foot of the perpendicular from II and JJ to BCBC, respectively. Then
r=ID=BIsinB2rA=JE=BJsin180B2=BJcosB2BI=BJtanAJB=BYtanC2. \begin{aligned} r = ID & = BI \sin \frac{B}{2} \\ r_A = JE & = BJ \sin \frac{180^\circ - B}{2} = BJ \cos \frac{B}{2} \\ BI & = BJ \tan \angle AJB = BY \tan \frac{C}{2} . \end{aligned}
The last equation followed from
AJB=180ABJJAB=180B2A2=C2. \angle AJB = 180^\circ - \angle ABJ - \angle JAB = \frac{180^\circ - B}{2} - \frac{A}{2} = \frac{C}{2} .
Hence
rrA=sinB2cosB2BIBJ=tanB2tanC2 \frac{r}{r_A} = \frac{\sin \frac{B}{2}}{\cos \frac{B}{2}} \cdot \frac{BI}{BJ} = \tan \frac{B}{2} \cdot \tan \frac{C}{2}
Noting tanAPB2tanAPQ2=tanAQP2tanAQC2=1\tan \frac{\angle APB}{2} \tan \frac{\angle APQ}{2} = \tan \frac{\angle AQP}{2} \tan \frac{\angle AQC}{2} = 1 and applying the lemma to ABC\triangle ABC, ABP\triangle ABP, APQ\triangle APQ, and AQC\triangle AQC give
3/2t=tanABC2tanACB2=(tanABC2tanAPB2)(tanAPQ2tanAQP2)(tanAQC2tanACB2)=131615 \begin{aligned} \frac{3/2}{t} & = \tan \frac{\angle ABC}{2} \cdot \tan \frac{\angle ACB}{2} \\ & = \left(\tan \frac{\angle ABC}{2} \cdot \tan \frac{\angle APB}{2}\right) \cdot \left(\tan \frac{\angle APQ}{2} \cdot \tan \frac{\angle AQP}{2}\right) \cdot \left(\tan \frac{\angle AQC}{2} \cdot \tan \frac{\angle ACB}{2}\right) \\ & = \frac{1}{3} \cdot \frac{1}{6} \cdot \frac{1}{5} \end{aligned}
Therefore, t=135t = 135.

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Source: MathNet, licensed CC-BY-4.0. Statement reproduced verbatim; metadata (topic, difficulty) added by this project.