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Geometry Difficulty 4.5 AIME Prove it

In triangle ABC\triangle ABC, aa, bb, cc are the sides opposite to angles AA, BB, CC respectively, and it is given that a2=1cosA1cosBa^2=\frac{1-\cos A}{1-\cos B}.
()(Ⅰ) Prove that if ABC\triangle ABC is a non-isosceles triangle and b=1b=1, there does not exist a triangle ABC\triangle ABC that satisfies the condition.
()(Ⅱ) Find the maximum value of 1c(1b1a)\frac{1}{c}\left(\frac{1}{b}-\frac{1}{a}\right).

Solution

### Proof of ()(Ⅰ):

Given the equation a2=1cosA1cosBa^2=\frac{1-\cos A}{1-\cos B}, we can apply the double angle cosine formula to transform it into:
a2=1cos2A1cos2B=sin2Asin2Ba^{2}=\frac{1-\cos^2 A}{1-\cos^2 B} = \frac{\sin^{2}A}{\sin^{2}B}
Using the half-angle formula, this becomes:
a2=sin2A2sin2B2a^{2}=\frac{\sin^{2}\frac{A}{2}}{\sin^{2}\frac{B}{2}}

Given that AA, B(0,π)B \in (0,\pi), it follows that sinA2>0\sin \frac{A}{2} > 0 and sinB2>0\sin \frac{B}{2} > 0. Thus, we can simplify the equation to:
a=sinA2sinB2a=\frac{\sin\frac{A}{2}}{\sin\frac{B}{2}}

With b=1b=1, we have:
asinB2=bsinA2a\sin \frac{B}{2}=b\sin \frac{A}{2}
This leads to:
2sinA2cosA2sinB2=2sinB2cosB2sinA22\sin \frac{A}{2}\cos \frac{A}{2}\sin \frac{B}{2}=2\sin \frac{B}{2}\cos \frac{B}{2}\sin \frac{A}{2}
Which simplifies to:
cosA2=cosB2\cos \frac{A}{2}=\cos \frac{B}{2}

Given that A2,B2(0,π2)\frac{A}{2}, \frac{B}{2} \in (0,\frac{\pi}{2}), it implies that:
A2=B2A=B\frac{A}{2}=\frac{B}{2} \Rightarrow A=B

This contradicts the assumption that ABC\triangle ABC is non-isosceles. Therefore, there does not exist a triangle ABC\triangle ABC that satisfies the given condition.

### Calculation for ()(Ⅱ):

Given a2=1cosA1cosBa^2=\frac{1-\cos A}{1-\cos B}, we can rewrite it as:
a2(1a2+c2b22ac)=1b2+c2a22bca^{2}\left(1-\frac{{a}^{2}+{c}^{2}-{b}^{2}}{2ac}\right)=1-\frac{b^{2}+c^{2}-a^{2}}{2bc}
This simplifies to:
a2(b+ac)(ba+c)2ac=(b+ac)(ab+c)2bca^{2}\frac{(b+a-c)(b-a+c)}{2ac}=\frac{(b+a-c)(a-b+c)}{2bc}

Since b+ac>0b+a-c > 0, we can further simplify to:
a2(ba+c)2ac=(ab+c)2bc1c=ab1ab+1(ab)a^2\frac{(b-a+c)}{2ac}=\frac{(a-b+c)}{2bc} \Rightarrow \frac{1}{c}=\frac{ab-1}{ab+1}(a-b)

Therefore:
1c(1b1a)=ab1ab(ab+1)\frac{1}{c}\left(\frac{1}{b}-\frac{1}{a}\right)=\frac{ab-1}{ab(ab+1)}

Let ab1=tab-1=t. If t=0t=0, then:
1c(1b1a)=ab1ab(ab+1)=0\frac{1}{c}\left(\frac{1}{b}-\frac{1}{a}\right)=\frac{ab-1}{ab(ab+1)}=0

If t0t \neq 0, then:
1c(1b1a)=t(t+1)(t+2)=1t+2t+3\frac{1}{c}\left(\frac{1}{b}-\frac{1}{a}\right)=\frac{t}{(t+1)(t+2)}=\frac{1}{t+\frac{2}{t}+3}

For t>0t > 0, we have:
1c(1b1a)=1t+2t+313+22=322\frac{1}{c}\left(\frac{1}{b}-\frac{1}{a}\right)=\frac{1}{t+\frac{2}{t}+3} \leq \frac{1}{3+2\sqrt{2}}=3-2\sqrt{2}
with equality at t=2t=\sqrt{2}, i.e., ab=1+2ab=1+\sqrt{2}.

For 1<t<0-1 < t < 0, t+2t(,3)t+\frac{2}{t} \in (-\infty ,-3), t+2t+3<0t+\frac{2}{t}+3 < 0, which does not satisfy the requirement.

Hence, the maximum value of 1c(1b1a)\frac{1}{c}\left(\frac{1}{b}-\frac{1}{a}\right) is 322\boxed{3-2\sqrt{2}}.

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Source: NuminaMath-1.5, licensed Apache-2.0. Statement and solution reproduced as published; topic and difficulty added by this site.