Maths Olympiad Prep

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HMMT, 2013

Geometry Difficulty 5.2 AIME, harder Prove it United States

Problem:
The lines y=xy = x, y=2xy = 2x, and y=3xy = 3x are the three medians of a triangle with perimeter 11. Find the length of the longest side of the triangle.

Solution

Solution:
The three medians of a triangle contain its vertices, so the three vertices of the triangle are (a,a)(a, a), (b,2b)(b, 2b), and (c,3c)(c, 3c) for some aa, bb, and cc. Then, the midpoint of (a,a)(a, a) and (b,2b)(b, 2b), which is (a+b2,a+2b2)\left(\frac{a+b}{2}, \frac{a+2b}{2}\right), must lie along the line y=3xy = 3x. Therefore,
a+2b2=3⋅a+b2a+2b=3a+3b−2a=b \begin{aligned} \frac{a+2b}{2} & = 3 \cdot \frac{a+b}{2} \\ a + 2b & = 3a + 3b \\ -2a & = b \end{aligned}
Similarly, the midpoint of (b,2b)(b, 2b) and (c,3c)(c, 3c), which is (b+c2,2b+3c2)\left(\frac{b+c}{2}, \frac{2b+3c}{2}\right), must lie along the line y=xy = x. Therefore,
2b+3c2=b+c22b+3c=b+cb=−2cc=−12b=a \begin{aligned} \frac{2b+3c}{2} & = \frac{b+c}{2} \\ 2b + 3c & = b + c \\ b & = -2c \\ c & = -\frac{1}{2}b = a \end{aligned}
From this, three points can be represented as (a,a)(a, a), (−2a,−4a)(-2a, -4a), and (a,3a)(a, 3a). Using the distance formula, the three side lengths of the triangle are 2∣a∣2|a|, 34∣a∣\sqrt{34}|a|, and 58∣a∣\sqrt{58}|a|. Since the perimeter of the triangle is 11, we find that ∣a∣=12+34+58|a| = \frac{1}{2 + \sqrt{34} + \sqrt{58}} and therefore the longest side length is 582+34+58\frac{\sqrt{58}}{2 + \sqrt{34} + \sqrt{58}}.

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