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Geometry Difficulty 4.6 AIME Prove it

Let ABC\triangle{ABC} be a non-equilateral, acute triangle with A=60\angle A=60^{\circ}, and let OO and HH denote the circumcenter and orthocenter of ABC\triangle{ABC}, respectively.
(a) Prove that line OHOH intersects both segments ABAB and ACAC.
(b) Line OHOH intersects segments ABAB and ACAC at PP and QQ, respectively. Denote by ss and tt the respective areas of triangle APQAPQ and quadrilateral BPQCBPQC. Determine the range of possible values for s/ts/t.

Solution

Lemma: HH is the reflection of OO over the angle bisector of BAC\angle BAC (henceforth 'the' reflection)
Proof: Let HH' be the reflection of OO, and let BB' be the reflection of BB.
Then reflection takes ABH\angle ABH' to ABO\angle AB'O.
ΔABB\Delta ABB' is equilateral, and OO lies on the perpendicular bisector of AB\overline{AB}
It's well known that OO lies strictly inside ΔABC\Delta ABC (since it's acute), meaning that ABH=ABO=30,\angle ABH' = \angle AB'O = 30^{\circ}, from which it follows that BHAC\overline{BH'} \perp \overline{AC} . Similarly, CHAB\overline{CH'} \perp \overline{AB}. Since HH' lies on two altitudes, HH' is the orthocenter, as desired.
End Lemma
So OH\overline{OH} is perpendicular to the angle bisector of OAH\angle OAH, which is the same line as the angle bisector of BAC\angle BAC, meaning that ΔAPQ\Delta APQ is equilateral.
Let its side length be ss, and let PH=tPH=t, where 0<t<s,ts/20 < t < s, t \neq s/2 because OO lies strictly within BAC\angle BAC, as must HH, the reflection of OO. Also, it's easy to show that if O=HO=H in a general triangle, it's equilateral, and we know ΔABC\Delta ABC is not equilateral. Hence H is not on the bisector of BAC    ts/2\angle BAC \implies t \neq s/2. Let BH\overrightarrow{BH} intersect AC\overline{AC} at PBP_B.
Since ΔHPBQ\Delta HP_BQ and BPBABP_BA are 30-60-90 triangles, AB=2APB=2(sQPB)=2(sHQ/2)=2sHQ=2s(st)=s+tAB=2AP_B=2(s-QP_B)=2(s-HQ/2)=2s-HQ=2s-(s-t)=s+t
Similarly, AC=2stAC=2s-t
The ratio [APQ][ABC][APQ]\frac{[APQ]}{[ABC]-[APQ]} is APAQABACAPAQ=s2(s+t)(2st)s2\frac{AP \cdot AQ}{AB \cdot AC - AP \cdot AQ} = \frac{s^2}{(s+t)(2s-t)-s^2}
The denominator equals (1.5s)2(.5st)2s2(1.5s)^2-(.5s-t)^2-s^2 where .5st.5s-t can equal any value in (.5s,.5s)(-.5s, .5s) except 00. Therefore, the denominator can equal any value in (s2,5s2/4)(s^2, 5s^2/4), and the ratio is any value in (45,1).\boxed{\left(\frac{4}{5},1\right)}.
Note: It's easy to show that for any point HH on PQ\overline{PQ} except the midpoint, Points B and C can be validly defined to make an acute, non-equilateral triangle.

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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.