Maths Olympiad Prep

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, 2024

Geometry Difficulty 5.9 AIME, harder Prove it United States

Problem:

Let ABCABC be an acute triangle and DD be the foot of altitude from AA to BC\overline{BC}. Let XX and YY be points on the segment BC\overline{BC} such that BAX=YAC\angle BAX = \angle YAC, BX=2BX = 2, XY=6XY = 6, and YC=3YC = 3. Given that AD=12AD = 12, compute BDBD.

Proposed by: Sarunyu Thongjarast

Answer: 12216=2881612 \sqrt{2} - 16 = \sqrt{288} - 16

Solution

Solution:

Figure 1

Let the line tangent to (ABC)\odot(ABC) at AA intersect line BCBC at PP.

Proof. Note that
PAX=PAB+BAX=PCA+CAY=PYA \angle PAX = \angle PAB + \angle BAX = \angle PCA + \angle CAY = \angle PYA

This proves the desired tangency.
Now, by power of point, we have,
PBPC=PXPY=PA2PB(PB+11)=(PB+2)(PB+8)PB=16PA2=PBPC=1627PA=123 \begin{aligned} PB \cdot PC & = PX \cdot PY = PA^2 \\ PB(PB+11) & = (PB+2)(PB+8) \\ PB & = 16 \\ PA^2 & = PB \cdot PC = 16 \cdot 27 \\ PA & = 12 \sqrt{3} \end{aligned}

By Pythagorean theorem, AD2+DP2=PA2AD^2 + DP^2 = PA^2. Therefore, PD2=PA2AD2=432144=288PD^2 = PA^2 - AD^2 = 432 - 144 = 288, so PD=122PD = 12 \sqrt{2}. Finally, BD=PDPB=12216BD = PD - PB = 12 \sqrt{2} - 16.

Solution 2:

Since BAX=CAY\angle BAX = \angle CAY, by Steiner ratio theorem, we get that
AB2AC2=BXCXBYCY=2983=1627 \frac{AB^2}{AC^2} = \frac{BX}{CX} \cdot \frac{BY}{CY} = \frac{2}{9} \cdot \frac{8}{3} = \frac{16}{27}

Thus, if BD=xBD = x, then by Pythagorean theorem, we get that AB2=144+x2AB^2 = 144 + x^2 and AC2=144+(11x)2AC^2 = 144 + (11 - x)^2. Combining with the displayed equations gives
27(144+x2)=16(144+(11x)2)27(144+x2)=16(144+x2)+16(22x+121)11(144+x2)=1611(2x+11)x2+144+16(2x11)=0x2+32x32=0x=12216, \begin{aligned} 27\left(144 + x^2\right) & = 16\left(144 + (11 - x)^2\right) \\ 27\left(144 + x^2\right) & = 16\left(144 + x^2\right) + 16(-22x + 121) \\ 11\left(144 + x^2\right) & = 16 \cdot 11 \cdot (-2x + 11) \\ x^2 + 144 + 16(2x - 11) & = 0 \\ x^2 + 32x - 32 & = 0 \\ x & = 12 \sqrt{2} - 16, \end{aligned}
(where we only take the positive solution since x>0x > 0).

Solution 3:

Suppose that BD=cBD = c. From the length conditions, we get that
tanBAD=c12,tanDAX=2c12,tanDAC=11c12,tanDAY=8c12 \tan \angle BAD = \frac{c}{12}, \quad \tan \angle DAX = \frac{2 - c}{12}, \quad \tan \angle DAC = \frac{11 - c}{12}, \quad \tan \angle DAY = \frac{8 - c}{12}

Thus, using tangent addition formula, we get that
tanBAX=tan(BAD+DAX)=c12+2c121c122c12=2121442c+c2144=241442c+c2tanYAC=tan(DACDAY)=11c128c121+11c128c12=312c219c+232144=36c219c+232 \begin{aligned} & \tan \angle BAX = \tan (\angle BAD + \angle DAX) = \frac{\frac{c}{12} + \frac{2 - c}{12}}{1 - \frac{c}{12} \cdot \frac{2 - c}{12}} = \frac{\frac{2}{12}}{\frac{144 - 2c + c^2}{144}} = \frac{24}{144 - 2c + c^2} \\ & \tan \angle YAC = \tan (\angle DAC - \angle DAY) = \frac{\frac{11 - c}{12} - \frac{8 - c}{12}}{1 + \frac{11 - c}{12} \cdot \frac{8 - c}{12}} = \frac{\frac{3}{12}}{\frac{c^2 - 19c + 232}{144}} = \frac{36}{c^2 - 19c + 232} \end{aligned}

Hence, the condition BAX=CAY\angle BAX = \angle CAY translates to
241442c+c2=36c219c+23236(c22c+144)24(c219c+232)=03(c22c+144)2(c219c+232)=0c2+32c32=0c=16±122 \begin{aligned} \frac{24}{144 - 2c + c^2} & = \frac{36}{c^2 - 19c + 232} \\ 36\left(c^2 - 2c + 144\right) - 24\left(c^2 - 19c + 232\right) & = 0 \\ 3\left(c^2 - 2c + 144\right) - 2\left(c^2 - 19c + 232\right) & = 0 \\ c^2 + 32c - 32 & = 0 \\ c & = -16 \pm 12 \sqrt{2} \end{aligned}
Since cc is positive, the answer is BD=12216BD = 12 \sqrt{2} - 16.

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Source: MathNet, licensed CC-BY-4.0. Statement reproduced verbatim; metadata (topic, difficulty) added by this project.