Olympiad Maths Prep

Track / Stage 5 / 168 of 400 #768 of 2000

Problem 768

AIME late
Geometry Difficulty 5.5 Find the answer

7.57 Let MM be a finite set of points in the plane. For any two points AA and BB in MM, there exists a third point CC such that ABC\triangle A B C is an equilateral triangle. Find the maximum number of elements in MM.

Official solution

[Solution] Consider the distance between any two points in MM, and let ABA B be the line segment connecting the two points with the greatest distance.
By the problem's condition, there exists a point CC such that ABC\triangle A B C is an equilateral triangle.
Construct arcs with A,B,CA, B, C as centers and ABA B as the radius, then we get the curved triangle as shown in the figure, and all points in MM are within this curved triangle.
If MM has another point PP different from A,B,CA, B, C.
Consider the position of PP.
(1) If PP is inside or on the boundary of ABC\triangle A B C, then for A,PA, P there is a third point PP^{\prime} such that APP\triangle A P P^{\prime} is an equilateral triangle. At this time, PP^{\prime} cannot be inside ABC\triangle A B C, PP^{\prime} can only be inside or on the boundary of one of the segments of the arc.
Connect CPC P^{\prime}, then there is a third point PP^{\prime \prime} such that CPP\triangle C P^{\prime} P^{\prime \prime} is an equilateral triangle.
If PP^{\prime \prime} and AA are on the same side of the line CPC P^{\prime}, then by
PAC=PBC>60, \angle P^{\prime \prime} A C=\angle P^{\prime} B C>60^{\circ},

at this time PP^{\prime \prime} is outside the curved triangle.
If PP^{\prime \prime} and BB are on the same side of the line CPC P^{\prime}, then similarly, PP^{\prime \prime} is outside the curved triangle.
Thus, a contradiction arises.
(2) If PP is inside or on the boundary of the segment of the arc, by (1), PP^{\prime} is also outside the curved triangle, leading to a contradiction.
By (1) and (2), the maximum number of elements in MM is 3.

Source: NuminaMath-1.5, licensed Apache-2.0. Statement and solution reproduced as published; topic, difficulty and ordering added by this site.