Maths Olympiad Prep

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Geometry Difficulty 5.1 AIME, harder Find the answer

Let ABCDABCD be a regular tetrahedron, and let OO be the centroid of triangle BCDBCD. Consider the point PP on AOAO such that PP minimizes PA+2(PB+PC+PD)PA+2(PB+PC+PD). Find sinPBO\sin \angle PBO.

A number or a short expression. Spacing and $ signs are ignored.

Solution

We translate the problem into one about 2-D geometry. Consider the right triangle ABOABO, and PP is some point on AOAO. Then, the choice of PP minimizes PA+6PBPA+6PB. Construct the line \ell through AA but outside the triangle ABOABO so that sin(AO,)=16\sin \angle(AO, \ell)=\frac{1}{6}. For whichever PP chosen, let QQ be the projection of PP onto \ell, then PQ=16APPQ=\frac{1}{6}AP. Then, since PA+6PB=6(PQ+PB)PA+6PB=6(PQ+PB), it is equivalent to minimize PQ+PBPQ+PB. Observe that this sum is minimized when B,P,QB, P, Q are collinear and the line through them is perpendicular to \ell (so that PQ+PBPQ+PB is simply the distance from BB to \ell). Then, AQB=90\angle AQB=90^{\circ}, and since AOB=90\angle AOB=90^{\circ} as well, we see that A,Q,P,BA, Q, P, B are concyclic. Therefore, PBO=OPA=(AO,)\angle PBO=\angle OPA=\angle(AO, \ell), and the sine of this angle is therefore 16\frac{1}{6}.

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