Maths Olympiad Prep

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Geometry Difficulty 5.7 AIME, harder Prove it Italy

Problem:

Let ABCABC be a triangle and let γ\gamma be the incircle of ABCABC. The circle γ\gamma is tangent to the side ABAB at the point TT. Let DD be the point of γ\gamma diametrically opposite to TT, and let SS be the point of intersection of the line through CC and DD with the side ABAB.

Prove that AT=SBAT = SB.

Solution

Solution:

With reference to the accompanying figure, let us draw the line rr through DD parallel to the side ABAB. Let LL and MM, respectively, be the intersections of rr with the sides ACAC and BCBC. Let us also denote by HH and KK, respectively, the points of tangency of γ\gamma with the sides ACAC and BCBC. Since the segments between a given external point and the respective points of contact on the tangents drawn from a point external to a circle are equal (hereafter "the tangent theorem"), we have CH=CKCH = CK, LH=LDLH = LD and MK=MDMK = MD. Writing CH=CL+LHCH = CL + LH, CK=CM+MKCK = CM + MK and, using the previous equalities, we get
CL+LD=CM+MD. CL + LD = CM + MD.

Figure 1

The triangles CLMCLM and CABCAB are similar, because they have parallel sides. Multiplying the previous equality by the ratio of similarity, we obtain CA+AS=CB+BSCA + AS = CB + BS, that is, CH+HA+AT+TS=CK+KB+BSCH + HA + AT + TS = CK + KB + BS. Using again the tangent theorem, we have CH=CKCH = CK, AH=ATAH = AT and KB=TB=TS+SBKB = TB = TS + SB. It follows that 2AT+TS=TS+2BS2AT + TS = TS + 2BS, and hence AT=BSAT = BS.

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Source: MathNet, licensed CC-BY-4.0. Statement translated into English from it; metadata (topic, difficulty) added by this project.