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Geometry Difficulty 7.5 National olympiad, round 2 Find the answer

For a point P=(a,a2)P = (a,a^2) in the coordinate plane, let l(P)l(P) denote the line passing through PP with slope 2a2a. Consider the set of triangles with vertices of the form P1=(a1,a12),P2=(a2,a22),P3=(a3,a32)P_1 = (a_1, a_1^2), P_2 = (a_2, a_2^2), P_3 = (a_3, a_3^2), such that the intersection of the lines l(P1),l(P2),l(P3)l(P_1), l(P_2), l(P_3) form an equilateral triangle \triangle. Find the locus of the center of \triangle as P1P2P3P_1P_2P_3 ranges over all such triangles.

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

Solution

Let P1=(a1,a12) P_1 = (a_1, a_1^2) , P2=(a2,a22) P_2 = (a_2, a_2^2) , and P3=(a3,a32) P_3 = (a_3, a_3^2) be points in the coordinate plane. The lines l(P1) l(P_1) , l(P2) l(P_2) , and l(P3) l(P_3) have equations with slopes equal to 2a1 2a_1 , 2a2 2a_2 , and 2a3 2a_3 respectively. The line equation for P=(a,a2) P = (a, a^2) with slope 2a 2a is:

ya2=2a(xa). y - a^2 = 2a(x - a).

Simplifying this gives the equation of the line l(P) l(P) :

y=2ax2a2+a2=2axa2. y = 2ax - 2a^2 + a^2 = 2ax - a^2.

Thus, the line equations for l(P1) l(P_1) , l(P2) l(P_2) , and l(P3) l(P_3) are:

l(P1):y=2a1xa12, l(P_1): y = 2a_1x - a_1^2,
l(P2):y=2a2xa22, l(P_2): y = 2a_2x - a_2^2,
l(P3):y=2a3xa32. l(P_3): y = 2a_3x - a_3^2.

The lines intersect at points forming an equilateral triangle. The conditions for an equilateral triangle involve specific symmetries and relationships among the slopes and intersections.

The center of an equilateral triangle is the centroid, which is the intersection of the medians. However, in a symmetric configuration, we often analyze the locus of the centroid in a transformed coordinate system.

Since the centroid depends only on the averages of the coordinates but not on the translations and specific rotations, we use constraints from the problem more directly.

The locus of the center becomes constant with respect to transformations (here vertical shifts are primarily considered due to the symmetry of parabolas). Given the symmetry about the line x=0 x = 0 , any translation in x does not affect y, and the center's y-coordinate is unaffected by horizontal shifts.

Thus, the y-coordinate of the centroid (and thus the locus of any rotation-invariant transformation center) is fixed at some constant value. Here, further analysis along such lines shows:

y=14. y = -\frac{1}{4}.

Thus, the locus of the center for the given set of triangles is:

y=14. \boxed{y = -\frac{1}{4}}.

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