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Geometry Difficulty 5.6 AIME, harder Prove it India

Let ABC\triangle ABC be triangle in which AB=ACAB = AC. Suppose the orthocentre of the triangle lies on the in-circle. Find the ratio AB/BCAB/BC.

Solutions — 4

Solution 1

Since the triangle is isosceles, the orthocentre lies on the perpendicular ADAD from AA on to BCBC. Let it cut the in-circle at HH. Now we are given that HH is the orthocentre of the triangle. Let AB=AC=bAB = AC = b and BC=2aBC = 2a. Then BD=aBD = a. Observe that b>ab > a since bb is the hypotenuse and aa is a leg of a right-angled triangle. Let BHBH meet ACAC in EE and CHCH meet ABAB in FF. By Pythagoras theorem applied to BDH\triangle BDH, we get

Figure 1

BH2=HD2+BD2=4r2+a2, BH^2 = HD^2 + BD^2 = 4r^2 + a^2,
where rr is the in-radius of ABCABC. We want to compute BHBH in another way. Since A,F,H,EA, F, H, E are con-cyclic, we have
BHBE=BFBA. BH \cdot BE = BF \cdot BA.
But BFBA=BDBC=2a2BF \cdot BA = BD \cdot BC = 2a^2, since A,F,D,CA, F, D, C are con-cyclic. Hence BH2=4a4/BE2BH^2 = 4a^4/BE^2. But
BE2=4a2CE2=4a2BF2=4a2(2a2b)2=4a2(b2a2)b2. BE^2 = 4a^2 - CE^2 = 4a^2 - BF^2 = 4a^2 - \left(\frac{2a^2}{b}\right)^2 = \frac{4a^2(b^2 - a^2)}{b^2}.
This leads to
BH2=a2b2b2a2. BH^2 = \frac{a^2b^2}{b^2 - a^2}.
Thus we get
a2b2b2a2=a2+4r2. \frac{a^2b^2}{b^2 - a^2} = a^2 + 4r^2.
This simplifies to (a4/(b2a2))=4r2(a^4/(b^2 - a^2)) = 4r^2. Now we relate a,b,ra, b, r in another way using area. We know that [ABC]=rs[ABC] = rs, where ss is the semi-perimeter of ABCABC. We have s=(b+b+2a)/2=b+as = (b + b + 2a)/2 = b + a. On the other hand area can be calculated using Heron's formula:
[ABC]2=s(s2a)(sb)(sb)=(b+a)(ba)a2=a2(b2a2). [ABC]^2 = s(s - 2a)(s - b)(s - b) = (b + a)(b - a)a^2 = a^2(b^2 - a^2).
Hence
r2=[ABC]2s2=a2(b2a2)(b+a)2. r^2 = \frac{[ABC]^2}{s^2} = \frac{a^2(b^2 - a^2)}{(b + a)^2}.
Using this we get
a4b2a2=4(a2(b2a2)(b+a)2). \frac{a^4}{b^2 - a^2} = 4 \left( \frac{a^2(b^2 - a^2)}{(b + a)^2} \right).
Therefore a2=4(ba)2a^2 = 4(b - a)^2, which gives a=2(ba)a = 2(b - a) or 2b=3a2b = 3a. Finally,
ABBC=b2a=34. \frac{AB}{BC} = \frac{b}{2a} = \frac{3}{4}.

Solution 2

We use the known facts BH=2RcosBBH = 2R \cos B and r=4Rsin(A/2)sin(B/2)sin(C/2)r = 4R \sin(A/2) \sin(B/2) \sin(C/2), where RR is the circumradius of ABC\triangle ABC and rr its in-radius. Therefore
HD=BHsinHBD=2RcosBsin(π2C)=2Rcos2B, HD = BH \sin \angle HBD = 2R \cos B \sin \left(\frac{\pi}{2} - C\right) = 2R \cos^2 B,
since C=B\angle C = \angle B. But B=(πA)/2\angle B = (\pi - \angle A)/2, since ABCABC is isosceles. Thus we obtain
HD=cos2(π2A2). HD = \cos^2 \left( \frac{\pi}{2} - \frac{A}{2} \right).
However HDHD is also the diameter of the in circle. Therefore HD=2rHD = 2r. Thus we get
2Rcos2(π2A2)=2r=8Rsin(A/2)sin2((πA)4). 2R \cos^2 \left( \frac{\pi}{2} - \frac{A}{2} \right) = 2r = 8R \sin(A/2) \sin^2\left(\frac{(\pi - A)}{4}\right).
This reduces to
sin(A/2)=2(1sin(A/2)). \sin(A/2) = 2(1 - \sin(A/2)).
Therefore sin(A/2)=2/3\sin(A/2) = 2/3. We also observe that sin(A/2)=BD/AB\sin(A/2) = BD/AB. Finally
ABBC=AB2BD=12sin(A/2)=34. \frac{AB}{BC} = \frac{AB}{2BD} = \frac{1}{2\sin(A/2)} = \frac{3}{4}.

Solution 3

Let DD be the mid-point of BCBC. Extend ADAD to meet the circumcircle in LL. Then we know that HD=DLHD = DL. But HD=2rHD = 2r. Thus DL=2rDL = 2r. Therefore IL=ID+DL=r+2r=3rIL = ID + DL = r + 2r = 3r. We also know that LB=LILB = LI. Therefore LB=3rLB = 3r. This gives
BLLD=3r2r=32. \frac{BL}{LD} = \frac{3r}{2r} = \frac{3}{2}.
But BLD\triangle BLD is similar to ABD\triangle ABD. So
ABBD=BLLD=32. \frac{AB}{BD} = \frac{BL}{LD} = \frac{3}{2}.
Finally,
ABBC=AB2BD=34. \frac{AB}{BC} = \frac{AB}{2BD} = \frac{3}{4}.

Solution 4

Let DD be the mid-point of BCBC and EE be the mid-point of DCDC. Since DI=IH(=r)DI = IH(= r) and DE=ECDE = EC, the mid-point theorem implies that IECHIE \parallel CH. But CHABCH \perp AB. Therefore EIABEI \perp AB. Let EIEI meet ABAB in FF. Then FF is the point of tangency of the incircle of ABC\triangle ABC with ABAB. Since the incircle is also tangent to BCBC at DD, we have BF=BDBF = BD. Observe that BFE\triangle BFE is similar to BDA\triangle BDA. Hence
ABBD=BEBF=BEBD=BD+DEBD=1+DEBD=32. \frac{AB}{BD} = \frac{BE}{BF} = \frac{BE}{BD} = \frac{BD + DE}{BD} = 1 + \frac{DE}{BD} = \frac{3}{2}.
This gives
ABBC=34. \frac{AB}{BC} = \frac{3}{4}.

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