GeometryDifficulty 7.3National olympiad, round 2Find the answer
Let ABC be a triangle. Find all points P on segment BC satisfying the following property: If X and Y are the intersections of line PA with the common external tangent lines of the circumcircles of triangles PAB and PAC , then (XYPA)2+AB⋅ACPB⋅PC=1.
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Solution
Let circle PAB (i.e. the circumcircle of PAB ), PAC be ω1,ω2 with radii r1 , r2 and centers O1,O2 , respectively, and d be the distance between their centers. Lemma. XY=dr1+r2d2−(r1−r2)2. Proof. Let the external tangent containing X meet ω1 at X1 and ω2 at X2 , and let the external tangent containing Y meet ω1 at Y1 and ω2 at Y2 . Then clearly X1Y1 and X2Y2 are parallel (for they are both perpendicular O1O2 ), and so X1Y1Y2X2 is a trapezoid. Now, X1X2=XA⋅XP=X2X2 by Power of a Point, and so X is the midpoint of X1X2 . Similarly, Y is the midpoint of Y1Y2 . Hence, XY=21(X1Y1+X2Y2). Let X1Y1 , X2Y2 meet O1O2 s at Z1,Z2 , respectively. Then by similar triangles and the Pythagorean Theorem we deduce that X1Z1=dr1d2−(r1−r2)2 and dr2d2−(r1−r2)2 . But it is clear that Z1 , Z2 is the midpoint of X1Y1 , X2Y2 , respectively, so XY=d(r1+r2)d2−(r1−r2)2, as desired. Lemma 2. Triangles O1AO2 and BAC are similar. Proof. ∠AO1O2=2∠PO1A=∠ABC and similarly ∠AO2O1=∠ACB , so the triangles are similar by AA Similarity. Also, let O1O2 intersect AP at Z . Then obviously Z is the midpoint of AP and AZ is an altitude of triangle AO1O2 .Thus, we can simplify our expression of XY : XY=BCAB+AC⋅2haAPBC2−(AB−AC)2, where ha is the length of the altitude from A in triangle ABC . Hence, substituting into our condition and using AB=c,BC=a,CA=b gives ((b+c)a2−(b−c)22aha)2+bcPB⋅PC=1. Using 2aha=4[ABC]=(a+b+c)(a+b−c)(a−b+c)(−a+b+c) by Heron's Formula (where [ABC] is the area of triangle ABC , our condition becomes (b+c)2(a+b+c)(−a+b+c)+bcPB⋅PC=1, which by (a+b+c)(−a+b+c)=(b+c)2−a2 becomes bcPB⋅PC=(b+c)2a2bc. Let PB=x ; then PC=a−x . The quadratic in x is x2−ax+(b+c)2a2bc=0, which factors as (x−b+cab)(x−b+cac)=0. Hence, PB=b+cab or b+cac , and so the P corresponding to these lengths are our answer. The problems on this page are copyrighted by the Mathematical Association of America 's American Mathematics Competitions .
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