Maths Olympiad Prep

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Geometry Difficulty 5.2 AIME, harder Prove it North Macedonia

In the right triangle lgab2=12(lga+lgblg2)\lg \frac{a-b}{2} = \frac{1}{2}(\lg a + \lg b - \lg 2), where a>ba > b, a,ba, b are the sides of the triangle. Find the angles of the triangle.

Solution

The given equation is equivalent to lgab2=lgab2\lg \frac{a-b}{2} = \lg \sqrt{\frac{ab}{2}}. Therefore
ab2=ab2a22ab+b24=ab2a24ab+b2=0. \frac{a-b}{2} = \sqrt{\frac{ab}{2}} \Leftrightarrow \frac{a^2-2ab+b^2}{4} = \frac{ab}{2} \Leftrightarrow a^2-4ab+b^2=0.
Since a>b>0a > b > 0, by dividing with b2b^2, we have (ab)24ab+1=0(\frac{a}{b})^2 - 4\frac{a}{b} + 1 = 0, with the roots ab=2±3\frac{a}{b} = 2\pm\sqrt{3}. Because of ab>1\frac{a}{b} > 1 we have ab=2+3\frac{a}{b} = 2+\sqrt{3}. On another side ab=tgα\frac{a}{b} = \operatorname{tg}\alpha.
From sin2α=2tgα1+tg2α=2(2+3)1+(2+3)2=12\sin 2\alpha = \frac{2\operatorname{tg}\alpha}{1+\operatorname{tg}^2\alpha} = \frac{2(2+\sqrt{3})}{1+(2+\sqrt{3})^2} = \frac{1}{2} we have the two solutions for the angle α\alpha, α=75\alpha = 75^\circ or α=15\alpha = 15^\circ. Since a>ba > b we have α>β\alpha > \beta, i.e. α=75\alpha = 75^\circ and β=15\beta = 15^\circ.

Figure 1

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