Maths Olympiad Prep

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Geometry Difficulty 6.5 National olympiad Find the answer

Let ABCABC be a right-angled triangle (C=90\angle C = 90^\circ) and DD be the midpoint of an altitude from C. The reflections of the line ABAB about ADAD and BDBD, respectively, meet at point FF. Find the ratio SABF:SABCS_{ABF}:S_{ABC}.
Note: SαS_{\alpha} means the area of α\alpha.

A number or a short expression. Fractions can be typed as 3/2, and spacing doesn't matter.

Solution

1. Identify the given elements and relationships:
- Triangle ABCABC is a right-angled triangle with C=90\angle C = 90^\circ.
- DD is the midpoint of the altitude from CC to ABAB.
- The reflections of line ABAB about ADAD and BDBD meet at point FF.

2. Establish the properties of the reflections:
- Reflecting ABAB about ADAD and BDBD will create two new lines that intersect at point FF.
- Since DD is the midpoint of the altitude from CC, it lies on the altitude CLCL where LL is the foot of the altitude from CC to ABAB.

3. Use similarity and geometric properties:
- Note that ALCCLB\triangle ALC \sim \triangle CLB because both are right triangles sharing the angle at CC.
- This similarity implies that LC2=LALBLC^2 = LA \cdot LB.

4. Relate the inradius and semi-perimeter:
- Let a=BFa = BF, b=AFb = AF, and c=ABc = AB.
- Let rr be the inradius and ss be the semi-perimeter of AFB\triangle AFB.
- Let hh be the length of the altitude from FF to ABAB.

5. Calculate the area relationships:
- The area of ABC\triangle ABC is given by:
SABC=12ACBC S_{ABC} = \frac{1}{2} \cdot AC \cdot BC
- The area of ABF\triangle ABF can be expressed using the altitude hh:
SABF=12ABh S_{ABF} = \frac{1}{2} \cdot AB \cdot h

6. Use the relationship between the inradius and the semi-perimeter:
- The inradius rr of AFB\triangle AFB is related to the area and semi-perimeter by:
r=SABFs r = \frac{S_{ABF}}{s}
- Given that 4r2=(sa)(sb)4r^2 = (s-a)(s-b), we can derive:
4(sc)s=1    s=43c \frac{4(s-c)}{s} = 1 \implies s = \frac{4}{3}c

7. Calculate the ratio of the areas:
- Using the relationship between the semi-perimeter and the sides:
SABFSABC=h2r=2Δc2Δs=sc=43 \frac{S_{ABF}}{S_{ABC}} = \frac{h}{2r} = \frac{\frac{2\Delta}{c}}{\frac{2\Delta}{s}} = \frac{s}{c} = \frac{4}{3}

The final answer is 43\boxed{\frac{4}{3}}.

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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.