Maths Olympiad Prep

Track / Stage 6 / 69 of 400 #1069 of 1964

Problem 1069

National Olympiad, first round
Geometry Difficulty 6.0 Prove it Thailand Mathematical Olympiad · Thailand

Let ABC\triangle ABC be a triangle with ABACAB \leq AC and let PP be an interior point on the angle bisector of BAC\angle BAC. Let D,ED, E be points on the segments PC,PBPC, PB respectively such that PBD=PCE\angle PBD = \angle PCE. The line BDBD meets ACAC at XX, and CECE meets ABAB at YY.
Prove that BXCYBX \leq CY.

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

We use Kelly's lemma

Lemma 1 (Kelly). Given a triangle ABCABC. Suppose the cevians BEBE and CFCF are such that CBEBCF\angle CBE \geq \angle BCF and ABEACF\angle ABE \geq \angle ACF. Then BECFBE \leq CF.

Proof (From Crux). Choose QQ on the segment AEAE so that QBE=QCF\angle QBE = \angle QCF. Let CFCF meets BE,BQBE, BQ at P,QP, Q respectively. In the triangle QBCQBC, since QBCQCB\angle QBC \geq \angle QCB, we have QCQBQC \geq QB. Observe that QBEQCR\triangle QBE \sim \triangle QCR, hence from that BQCQBQ \leq CQ we obtain BECRBE \leq CR. Clearly CRCFCR \leq CF, therefore BECFBE \leq CF. \square

Now we apply Kelly's lemma to our problem. We want to show that

\angle DBC \geq \angle ECB and\quad \text{and} \quad \angle ABP \geq \angle ACP.

Reflect the point CC about the line APAP to CC'. By symmetry
ABPACP=ACP. \angle ABP \geq \angle AC'P = \angle ACP.
To show that DBCECB\angle DBC \geq \angle ECB, we use sine law in the triangles ABPABP and ACPACP respectively to get
BP=APsin(A/2)sin(ABP),CP=APsin(A/2)sin(ACP). BP = AP \frac{\sin(A/2)}{\sin(\angle ABP)}, \quad CP = AP \frac{\sin(A/2)}{\sin(\angle ACP)}.
Thus BPCPBP \leq CP. In the triangle PBCPBC, since BPCPBP \leq CP, it follows that PCBPBC\angle PCB \leq \angle PBC. Therefore
DBCECB. \angle DBC \geq \angle ECB.
This proves the claim and the problem.

Figure 1

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