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Geometry Difficulty 5.7 AIME, harder Find the answer

Let ABCA B C be a triangle with AB=6,AC=7,BC=8A B=6, A C=7, B C=8. Let II be the incenter of ABCA B C. Points ZZ and YY lie on the interior of segments ABA B and ACA C respectively such that YZY Z is tangent to the incircle. Given point PP such that ZPC=YPB=90\angle Z P C=\angle Y P B=90^{\circ} find the length of IPI P.

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

Solution

Solution 1. Let PU,PVP U, P V tangent from PP to the incircle. We will invoke the dual of the Desargues Involution Theorem, which states the following: Given a point PP in the plane and four lines 1,2,3,4\ell_{1}, \ell_{2}, \ell_{3}, \ell_{4}, consider the set of conics tangent to all four lines. Then we define a function on the pencil of lines through PP by mapping one tangent from PP to each conic to the other. This map is well defined and is a projective involution, and in particular maps PAPD,PBPE,PCPFP A \rightarrow P D, P B \rightarrow P E, P C \rightarrow P F, where ABCDEFA B C D E F is the complete quadrilateral given by the pairwise intersections of 1,2,3,4\ell_{1}, \ell_{2}, \ell_{3}, \ell_{4}. An overview of the projective background behind the (Dual) Desargues Involution Theorem can be found here: https://www.scribd.com/document/384321704/Desargues-Involution-Theorem, and a proof can be found at https://www2.washjeff.edu/users/mwoltermann/Dorrie/63.pdf. Now, we apply this to the point PP and the lines AB,AC,BC,YZA B, A C, B C, Y Z, to get that the pairs (PU,PV),(PY,PB),(PZ,PC)(P U, P V),(P Y, P B),(P Z, P C) are swapped by some involution. But we know that the involution on lines through PP which rotates by 9090^{\circ} swaps the latter two pairs, thus it must also swap the first one and UPV=90\angle U P V=90. It follows by equal tangents that IUPVI U P V is a square, thus IP=r2I P=r \sqrt{2} where rr is the inradius of ABCA B C. Since r=2Ka+b+c=2115/221=152r=\frac{2 K}{a+b+c}=\frac{21 \sqrt{15} / 2}{21}=\frac{\sqrt{15}}{2}, we have IP=302I P=\frac{\sqrt{30}}{2}. Solution 2. Let HH be the orthocenter of ABCA B C. Lemma. HI2=2r24R2cos(A)cos(B)cos(C)H I^{2}=2 r^{2}-4 R^{2} \cos (A) \cos (B) \cos (C), where rr is the inradius and RR is the circumradius. Proof. This follows from barycentric coordinates or the general result that for a point XX in the plane, aXA2+bXB2+cXC2=(a+b+c)XI2+aAI2+bBI2+cCI2a X A^{2}+b X B^{2}+c X C^{2}=(a+b+c) X I^{2}+a A I^{2}+b B I^{2}+c C I^{2} which itself is a fact about vectors that follows from barycentric coordinates. This can also be computed directly using trigonometry. Let E=BHAC,F=CHABE=B H \cap A C, F=C H \cap A B, then note that B,P,E,YB, P, E, Y are concyclic on the circle of diameter BYB Y, and C,P,F,ZC, P, F, Z are concyclic on the circle of diameter CZC Z. Let QQ be the second intersection of these circles. Since BCYZB C Y Z is a tangential quadrilateral, the midpoints of BYB Y and CZC Z are collinear with II (this is known as Newton's theorem), which implies that IP=IQI P=I Q by symmetry. Note that as BHHE=CHHF,HB H \cdot H E=C H \cdot H F, H lies on the radical axis of the two circles, which is PQP Q. Thus, if IP=IQ=xI P=I Q=x, BHHEB H \cdot H E is the power of HH with respect to the circle centered at II with radius xx, which implies BHHE=x2HI2B H \cdot H E=x^{2}-H I^{2}. As with the first solution, we claim that x=r2x=r \sqrt{2}, which by the lemma is equivalent to BHHE=B H \cdot H E= 4R2cos(A)cos(B)cos(C)4 R^{2} \cos (A) \cos (B) \cos (C). Then note that BHHE=BHCHcos(A)=(2Rcos(B))(2Rcos(C))cos(A)B H \cdot H E=B H \cdot C H \cos (A)=(2 R \cos (B))(2 R \cos (C)) \cos (A) so our claim holds and we finish as with the first solution. Note. Under the assumption that the problem is well-posed (the answer does not depend on the choice of Y,ZY, Z, or PP ), then here is an alternative method to obtain IP=r2I P=r \sqrt{2} by making convenient choices. Let UU be the point where YZY Z is tangent to the incircle, and choose UU so that IUBCI U \| B C (and therefore YZBC)Y Z \perp B C). Note that YZBCY Z \cap B C is a valid choice for PP, so assume that PP is the foot from UU to BCB C. If DD is the point where BCB C is tangent to the incircle, then IUPDI U P D is a square so IP=r2I P=r \sqrt{2}. (This disregards the condition that YY and ZZ are in the interior of segments ACA C and ABA B, but there is no reason to expect that this condition is important.)

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