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Geometry Difficulty 5.8 AIME, harder Prove it Ireland

Suppose aa, bb, cc are the side lengths of a triangle ABCABC. Prove that the system of equations
by+cz+aw=1,bx+az+cw=0,cx+ay+bw=0,ax+cy+bz=0, \begin{aligned} by + cz + aw &= 1, \\ bx + az + cw &= 0, \\ cx + ay + bw &= 0, \\ ax + cy + bz &= 0, \end{aligned}
has a unique solution.

Solution

abx+bcy+(c2a2)z=c,acx+(b2a2)y+bcz=b,ax+cy+bz=0. \begin{align*} -abx + bcy + (c^2 - a^2)z &= c, \\ -acx + (b^2 - a^2)y + bcz &= b, \\ ax + cy + bz &= 0. \end{align*}
Next, eliminate zz from these by first subtracting c2a2c^2-a^2 times the second from bcbc times the first, and then subtracting cc times the third from the second.
These operations yield the following pair of equations for xx, yy:
ca(c2a2b2)x+(b2c2(c2a2)(b2a2))y=ba2,2acx+(b2a2c2)y=b. \begin{align*} ca(c^2 - a^2 - b^2)x + (b^2c^2 - (c^2 - a^2)(b^2 - a^2))y &= ba^2, \\ -2acx + (b^2 - a^2 - c^2)y &= b. \end{align*}
Equivalently,
a(b2+c2a2)yc(a2+b2c2)x=ab,(c2+a2b2)y+2acx=b, \begin{align*} a(b^2 + c^2 - a^2)y - c(a^2 + b^2 - c^2)x &= ab, \\ (c^2 + a^2 - b^2)y + 2acx &= -b, \end{align*}
which becomes, using the cosine rule,
ycosAxcosC=a2acandycosB+x=b2ac y \cos A - x \cos C = \frac{a}{2ac} \quad \text{and} \quad y \cos B + x = -\frac{b}{2ac}
Now eliminate yy from these by subtracting cosA\cos A times the second from cosB\cos B
times the first, thereby giving an equation for xx:
(cosBcosC+cosA)x=acosB+bcosA2ac=12a -(\cos B \cos C + \cos A)x = \frac{a \cos B + b \cos A}{2ac} = \frac{1}{2a}
where we have used that c=acosB+bcosAc = a \cos B + b \cos A. But
cosA=cos(πBC)=cos(B+C)=cosBcosC+sinBsinC \cos A = \cos(\pi - B - C) = -\cos(B + C) = -\cos B \cos C + \sin B \sin C
and sinBsinC0\sin B \sin C \neq 0. Thus, we can solve the previous equation for xx:
x=abc2(absinC)(acsinB)=abc8(ABC)2 x = - \frac{abc}{2(ab \sin C)(ac \sin B)} = - \frac{abc}{8(ABC)^2}
where (ABC)(ABC) stands for the area of ABCABC. In the same way it can be shown
that
y=abccosB8(ABC)2,z=abccosC8(ABC)2,andw=abccosA8(ABC)2. y = \frac{abc \cos B}{8(ABC)^2}, \quad z = \frac{abc \cos C}{8(ABC)^2}, \quad \text{and} \quad w = \frac{abc \cos A}{8(ABC)^2}.

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