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HMMT February

Geometry Difficulty 4.8 AIME Find the answer

Let ABCABC be a triangle with circumcenter OO, incenter I,∠B=45∘I, \angle B=45^{\circ}, and OI∥BCOI \parallel BC. Find cos⁡∠C\cos \angle C.

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

Solution

Let MM be the midpoint of BCBC, and DD the foot of the perpendicular of II with BCBC. Because OI∥BCOI \parallel BC, we have OM=IDOM=ID. Since ∠BOC=2∠A\angle BOC=2 \angle A, the length of OMOM is OAcos⁡∠BOM=OAcos⁡A=Rcos⁡AOA \cos \angle BOM=OA \cos A=R \cos A, and the length of IDID is rr, where RR and rr are the circumradius and inradius of △ABC\triangle ABC, respectively. Thus, r=Rcos⁡Ar=R \cos A, so 1+cos⁡A=(R+r)/R1+\cos A=(R+r) / R. By Carnot's theorem, (R+r)/R=cos⁡A+cos⁡B+cos⁡C(R+r) / R=\cos A+\cos B+\cos C, so we have cos⁡B+cos⁡C=1\cos B+\cos C=1. Since cos⁡B=22\cos B=\frac{\sqrt{2}}{2}, we have cos⁡C=1−22\cos C=1-\frac{\sqrt{2}}{2}.

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