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Geometry Difficulty 4.4 AIME Prove it Croatia

In the triangle ABCABC we have ABC=2BAC\angle ABC = 2\angle BAC. Prove that AC<2BC|AC| < 2|BC|. (Ilko Brnetić)

Solution

Let BAC=α\angle BAC = \alpha, so ABC=2α\angle ABC = 2\alpha.

In triangle ABCABC, the sum of angles is 180180^\circ:
α+2α+BCA=180 \alpha + 2\alpha + \angle BCA = 180^\circ
So BCA=1803α\angle BCA = 180^\circ - 3\alpha.

Let AB=c|AB| = c, BC=a|BC| = a, CA=b|CA| = b.

By the Law of Sines:
asinα=bsin2α=csin(1803α)=csin3α \frac{a}{\sin \alpha} = \frac{b}{\sin 2\alpha} = \frac{c}{\sin(180^\circ - 3\alpha)} = \frac{c}{\sin 3\alpha}

We want to prove b<2ab < 2a.

From the Law of Sines:
ba=sin2αsinα \frac{b}{a} = \frac{\sin 2\alpha}{\sin \alpha}
Recall sin2α=2sinαcosα\sin 2\alpha = 2\sin \alpha \cos \alpha:
ba=2sinαcosαsinα=2cosα \frac{b}{a} = \frac{2\sin \alpha \cos \alpha}{\sin \alpha} = 2\cos \alpha
So b=2acosαb = 2a \cos \alpha.

We want b<2ab < 2a, i.e. 2acosα<2a2a \cos \alpha < 2a, or cosα<1\cos \alpha < 1.

Since 0<α<600 < \alpha < 60^\circ (otherwise BCA\angle BCA would be negative), cosα<1\cos \alpha < 1 is always true for 0<α<600 < \alpha < 60^\circ.

Therefore, AC<2BC|AC| < 2|BC|.

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Source: MathNet, licensed CC-BY-4.0. Statement and solution reproduced as published; topic and difficulty added by this site.