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BxMO Team Selection Test

Geometry Difficulty 8.3 Shortlist Prove it Netherlands

A triangle ABCABC has the property that ∣AB∣+∣AC∣=3∣BC∣|AB| + |AC| = 3|BC|. Let TT be the point on line segment ACAC satisfying ∣AC∣=4∣AT∣|AC| = 4|AT|. Let KK and LL be points on the interior of line segments ABAB and ACAC, respectively, such that KL∥BCKL \parallel BC, and KLKL is tangent to the incircle of △ABC\triangle ABC. Let SS be the intersection of BTBT and KLKL. Determine the ratio ∣SL∣∣KL∣\frac{|SL|}{|KL|}.

Solution

Denote the radius of the incircle of △ABC\triangle ABC by rr. Then the area of triangle ABCABC is
12∣AB∣⋅r+12∣BC∣⋅r+12∣AC∣=12r⋅(3∣BC∣+∣BC∣)=2r∣BC∣. \frac{1}{2}|AB| \cdot r + \frac{1}{2}|BC| \cdot r + \frac{1}{2}|AC| = \frac{1}{2}r \cdot (3|BC| + |BC|) = 2r|BC|.
On the other hand, the area of ABCABC equals 12h∣BC∣\frac{1}{2}h|BC|, where hh is the altitude from AA. Hence, h=4rh = 4r. Because the distance from KLKL to BCBC is exactly 2r2r, the distance from AA to KLKL is also 2r2r. Triangles AKLAKL and ABCABC are similar, because KL∥BCKL \parallel BC, and the altitudes from AA have lengths 2r2r and 4r4r, respectively, giving a multiplication factor of exactly 2. Hence, KK is the midpoint ABAB, and LL is the midpoint of ACAC.
For the point TT, we have ∣AC∣=4∣AT∣|AC| = 4|AT|, hence ∣AT∣=14∣AC∣=12∣AL∣|AT| = \frac{1}{4}|AC| = \frac{1}{2}|AL|, hence TT is the midpoint of ALAL. Now consider triangle ABLABL. In this triangle, the segment BTBT is a median, because TT is the midpoint of ALAL. Also LKLK is a median as KK is the midpoint ABAB. Their intersection point SS is the centroid, from which we get that ∣SL∣∣KL∣=23\frac{|SL|}{|KL|} = \frac{2}{3}.
□\Box

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