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Problem 1502

AIME late
Geometry Difficulty 5.5 Prove it Saudi Arabian Mathematical Competitions · Saudi Arabia

In triangle ABCA B C the circumcircle has radius RR and center OO and the incircle has radius rr and center I≠OI \neq O. Let GG denote the centroid of triangle ABCA B C. Prove that IG⊥BCI G \perp B C if and only if AB=ACA B=A C or AB+AC=3BCA B+A C=3 B C.

This one wants a proof. Work it on paper, then read the official solution and mark yourself. Be honest about it: the record is only any use to you if it is.

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Official solution

Let α=BC\alpha = B C, β=CA\beta = C A, γ=AB\gamma = A B. Without loss of generality we may assume that β≥γ\beta \geq \gamma. Let MM be the midpoint of BCB C, and let A′A', I′I', and G′G' be the orthogonal projections of AA, II and GG on MBM B.

Figure 1

We have
MI′=MB−BI′=α2−(s−β)=β−γ2, M I' = M B - B I' = \frac{\alpha}{2} - (s - \beta) = \frac{\beta - \gamma}{2},
and because
γ2−A′B2=β2−(α−A′B)2, \gamma^2 - A' B^2 = \beta^2 - (\alpha - A' B)^2,
we have
MG′=13MA′=13(MB−A′B)=13(α2−α2−β2+γ22α)=β2−γ26α. \begin{aligned} & M G' = \frac{1}{3} M A' = \frac{1}{3}(M B - A' B) \\ = & \frac{1}{3}\left(\frac{\alpha}{2} - \frac{\alpha^2 - \beta^2 + \gamma^2}{2 \alpha}\right) = \frac{\beta^2 - \gamma^2}{6 \alpha} . \end{aligned}
We conclude that IG⊥BCI G \perp B C is equivalent to I′I' coincides to G′G', that is MI′=MG′M I' = M G'. The last relation is equivalent to
β−γ2=β2−γ26α \frac{\beta - \gamma}{2} = \frac{\beta^2 - \gamma^2}{6 \alpha}
or
(β−γ)(β+γ−3α)=0 (\beta - \gamma)(\beta + \gamma - 3 \alpha) = 0
and the conclusion follows.

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