Maths Olympiad Prep

Library / /835 of 860

Algebra Difficulty 5.7 AIME, harder Find the answer

Let a,ba, b and cc be positive real numbers such that a2+ab+b2=9b2+bc+c2=52c2+ca+a2=49\begin{aligned} a^{2}+a b+b^{2} & =9 \\ b^{2}+b c+c^{2} & =52 \\ c^{2}+c a+a^{2} & =49 \end{aligned} Compute the value of 49b233bc+9c2a2\frac{49 b^{2}-33 b c+9 c^{2}}{a^{2}}.

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

Solution

Consider a triangle ABCA B C with Fermat point PP such that AP=a,BP=b,CP=cA P=a, B P=b, C P=c. Then AB2=AP2+BP22APBPcos(120)A B^{2}=A P^{2}+B P^{2}-2 A P \cdot B P \cos \left(120^{\circ}\right) by the Law of Cosines, which becomes AB2=a2+ab+b2A B^{2}=a^{2}+a b+b^{2} and hence AB=3A B=3. Similarly, BC=52B C=\sqrt{52} and AC=7A C=7. Furthermore, we have BC2=52=AB2+BC22ABBCcosBAC=32+72237cosBAC=5842cosBAC\begin{aligned} B C^{2}=52 & =A B^{2}+B C^{2}-2 A B \cdot B C \cos \angle B A C \\ & =3^{2}+7^{2}-2 \cdot 3 \cdot 7 \cos \angle B A C \\ & =58-42 \cos \angle B A C \end{aligned} And so cosBAC=17\cos \angle B A C=\frac{1}{7}. Invert about AA with arbitrary radius rr. Let B,P,CB^{\prime}, P^{\prime}, C^{\prime} be the images of B,P,CB, P, C respectively. Since APB=ABP=120\angle A P B=\angle A B^{\prime} P^{\prime}=120^{\circ} and APC=ACP=120\angle A P C=\angle A C^{\prime} P^{\prime}=120^{\circ}, we note that BPC=120BAC\angle B^{\prime} P^{\prime} C^{\prime}=120^{\circ}-\angle B A C, and so cosBPC=cos(120BAC)=cos120cosBACsin120sinBAC=12(17)+32(437)=1114\begin{aligned} \cos \angle B^{\prime} P^{\prime} C^{\prime} & =\cos \left(120^{\circ}-\angle B A C\right) \\ & =\cos 120^{\circ} \cos \angle B A C-\sin 120^{\circ} \sin \angle B A C \\ & =-\frac{1}{2}\left(\frac{1}{7}\right)+\frac{\sqrt{3}}{2}\left(\frac{4 \sqrt{3}}{7}\right) \\ & =\frac{11}{14} \end{aligned} Furthermore, using the well-known result BC=r2BCABACB^{\prime} C^{\prime}=\frac{r^{2} B C}{A B \cdot A C} for an inversion about AA, we have BP=BPr2ABAP=br2a3=br23a\begin{aligned} B^{\prime} P^{\prime} & =\frac{B P r^{2}}{A B \cdot A P} \\ & =\frac{b r^{2}}{a \cdot 3} \\ & =\frac{b r^{2}}{3 a} \end{aligned} and similarly PC=cr27a,BC=r25221P^{\prime} C^{\prime}=\frac{c r^{2}}{7 a}, B^{\prime} C^{\prime}=\frac{r^{2} \sqrt{52}}{21}. Applying the Law of Cosines to BPCB^{\prime} P^{\prime} C^{\prime} gives us BC2=BP2+PC22BPPCcos(120BAC)52r4212=b2r49a2+c2r449a211bcr4147a252212=b29a2+c249a211bc147a252212=49b233bc+9c2212a2\begin{aligned} B^{\prime} C^{\prime 2} & =B^{\prime} P^{\prime 2}+P^{\prime} C^{2}-2 B^{\prime} P^{\prime} \cdot P^{\prime} C^{\prime} \cos \left(120^{\circ}-\angle B A C\right) \\ \Longrightarrow \frac{52 r^{4}}{21^{2}} & =\frac{b^{2} r^{4}}{9 a^{2}}+\frac{c^{2} r^{4}}{49 a^{2}}-\frac{11 b c r^{4}}{147 a^{2}} \\ \Longrightarrow \frac{52}{21^{2}} & =\frac{b^{2}}{9 a^{2}}+\frac{c^{2}}{49 a^{2}}-\frac{11 b c}{147 a^{2}} \\ \Longrightarrow \frac{52}{21^{2}} & =\frac{49 b^{2}-33 b c+9 c^{2}}{21^{2} a^{2}} \end{aligned} and so 49b233bc+9c2a2=52\frac{49 b^{2}-33 b c+9 c^{2}}{a^{2}}=52. Motivation: the desired sum looks suspiciously like the result of some Law of Cosines, so we should try building a triangle with sides 7ba\frac{7 b}{a} and 3ca\frac{3 c}{a}. Getting the 33bca-\frac{33 b c}{a} term is then a matter of setting cosθ=1114\cos \theta=\frac{11}{14}. Now there are two possible leaps: noticing that cosθ=cos(120BAC)\cos \theta=\cos (120-\angle B A C), or realizing that it's pretty difficult to contrive a side of 7ba\frac{7 b}{a} - but it's much easier to contrive a side of b3a\frac{b}{3 a}. Either way leads to the natural inversion idea, and the rest is a matter of computation.

Want a route through all this instead of an archive? The track puts 2,000 problems in a working order, from AMC 10 level to the IMO shortlist.

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