Medians , , and of triangle meet at as shown. Six small triangles, each with vertex at , are formed. We draw the circles inscribed in triangles , , and as shown. Prove that if these three circles are all congruent, then is equilateral.
[asy]
size(200);
defaultpen(fontsize(10));
pair C=origin, B=(12,0), A=(3,14), D=midpoint(B--C), E=midpoint(A--C), F=midpoint(A--B), G=centroid(A,B,C);
draw(A--B--C--A--D^^B--E^^C--F);
draw(incircle(C,G,D)^^incircle(G,D,B)^^incircle(A,F,G));
pair point=G;
label("", A, dir(point--A));
label("", B, dir(point--B));
label("", C, dir(point--C));
label("", D, dir(point--D));
label("", E, dir(point--E));
label("", F, dir(point--F));
label("", G, dir(7));[/asy]
Problem 1681
Official solution
1. Equal Areas of Sub-Triangles:
- It is well known that the medians of a triangle divide it into six smaller triangles of equal area. Therefore, the areas of triangles , , and are equal.
2. Inradius and Semi-Perimeter:
- For any triangle with area , semi-perimeter , and inradius , the relationship holds. Since the incircles of triangles , , and are congruent, they have the same inradius . This implies that the semi-perimeters of these triangles are equal.
3. Medians and Centroid:
- The centroid of a triangle divides each median into a ratio of 2:1, with the longer segment being closer to the vertex. Let , , and be the lengths of the medians from vertices , , and respectively. Let the side lengths of triangle be , , and , where is opposite , is opposite , and is opposite .
4. Equating Perimeters:
- Consider triangles and . The semi-perimeters of these triangles can be expressed as:
Simplifying, we get:
5. Using Stewart's Theorem:
- By Stewart's Theorem, the length of a median can be expressed as:
Since , we have:
Squaring both sides and simplifying, we get:
6. Equating Other Perimeters:
- Now consider triangles and . The semi-perimeters of these triangles can be expressed as:
Using and simplifying, we get:
Substituting the median lengths, we get:
Simplifying further, we get:
Dividing by and letting , we get:
Simplifying further, we get:
The solutions are , , and . Clearly, and do not work. Checking shows that it works, implying .
7. Conclusion:
- Since , triangle is equilateral.