Maths Olympiad Prep

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Geometry Difficulty 5.8 AIME, harder Prove it Singapore

Let ABCABC be a triangle with integral side lengths such that A=3B\angle A = 3\angle B. Find the minimum value of its perimeter.

Solution

Let the sides be a,b,ca, b, c. From the sine rule, we have
ab=sin3BsinB=4cos2B1cb=sinCsinB=sin4BsinB=8cos3B4cosB \begin{aligned} \frac{a}{b} &= \frac{\sin 3B}{\sin B} = 4\cos^2 B - 1 \\ \frac{c}{b} &= \frac{\sin C}{\sin B} = \frac{\sin 4B}{\sin B} = 8\cos^3 B - 4\cos B \end{aligned}
Thus
2cosB=a2+c2b2acQ. 2 \cos B = \frac{a^2 + c^2 - b^2}{ac} \in \mathbb{Q}.

Hence there exist coprime positive integers p,qp, q such that 2cosB=2q2 \cos B = \frac{2}{q}. Hence
ab=p2q21ap2q2=bq2; \frac{a}{b} = \frac{p^2}{q^2} - 1 \quad \Leftrightarrow \quad \frac{a}{p^2 - q^2} = \frac{b}{q^2};
cb=p3q32pqcp32pq2=bq3. \frac{c}{b} = \frac{p^3}{q^3} - \frac{2p}{q} \quad \Leftrightarrow \quad \frac{c}{p^3 - 2pq^2} = \frac{b}{q^3}.
Thus
a(p2q2)q=bq3=cp32pq2=ef,gcd(e,f)=1. \frac{a}{(p^2 - q^2)q} = \frac{b}{q^3} = \frac{c}{p^3 - 2pq^2} = \frac{e}{f}, \quad \text{gcd}(e, f) = 1.
Since perimeter is minimum, gcd(a,b,c)=1\text{gcd}(a, b, c) = 1. From gcd(e,f)=1\text{gcd}(e, f) = 1, we have fq3f \mid q^3 and fp32pq2f \mid p^3 - 2pq^2. We'll prove that f=1f = 1.
If f>1f > 1, then it has a prime divisor f>1f' > 1 such that fq3f' \mid q^3 and fp32pq2f' \mid p^3 - 2pq^2. Thus fqf' \mid q and fpf' \mid p, contradicting gcd(p,q)=1\text{gcd}(p, q) = 1. Thus f=1f = 1. From gcd(a,b,c)=1\text{gcd}(a, b, c) = 1, we conclude that e=1e = 1. Thus
a=(p2q2)q,b=q3,c=p32pq2. a = (p^2 - q^2)q, \quad b = q^3, \quad c = p^3 - 2pq^2.
From 0<A+B=4B<1800^\circ < \angle A + \angle B = 4\angle B < 180^\circ, we get 0<B<450^\circ < \angle B < 45^\circ and hence 2<2cosB<2\sqrt{2} < 2 \cos B < 2 implying that q<p<2q\sqrt{q} < p < 2q. The smallest positive integers satisfying this inequality is p=3,q=2p = 3, q = 2. Since a+b+c=p2q+p(p22q2)a + b + c = p^2q + p(p^2 - 2q^2) and p22q2=1p^2 - 2q^2 = 1, we see that the minimum perimeter is achieved when p=3,q=2p = 3, q = 2 and the value is 2121.

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