Let be a triangle with its centroid . Let and be points on segments and , respectively, such that,
Prove that the points and are collinear.
Proposed by Dorlir Ahmeti, Kosovo
Let be a triangle with its centroid . Let and be points on segments and , respectively, such that,
Prove that the points and are collinear.
Proposed by Dorlir Ahmeti, Kosovo
1. Given Condition and Initial Setup:
We are given a triangle with centroid . Points and lie on segments and respectively, such that:
We need to prove that points , , and are collinear.
2. Rewriting the Given Condition:
The given condition can be rewritten as:
This implies:
3. Area Interpretation:
Multiplying both sides by , we get:
This can be interpreted as:
where denotes the area of triangle .
4. Area Relationship:
Since , we can further deduce:
This implies that the sum of the areas of and equals the area of .
5. Base and Height Consideration:
Since these triangles share the same base , we can consider the heights from points , , and to line . Let be the foot of the perpendicular from to , be the foot of the perpendicular from to , and be the foot of the perpendicular from to .
6. Height Relationship:
Given the area relationship, we have:
Since forms a right trapezoid and is the midpoint of , we have:
and thus:
7. Triangles Similarity:
Consider triangles and , where . Since and , we have:
Therefore:
Hence, because the centroid bisects the median into two segments with a ratio of .
8. Conclusion:
Since lies on and and are on line , we conclude that , , and are collinear.