Olympiad Maths Prep

Track / Stage 7 / 281 of 300 #1681 of 2000

Problem 1681

National olympiad second round; IMO P1/P4
Geometry Difficulty 7.8 Prove it

Medians ADAD, BEBE, and CFCF of triangle ABCABC meet at GG as shown. Six small triangles, each with vertex at GG, are formed. We draw the circles inscribed in triangles AFGAFG, BDGBDG, and CDGCDG as shown. Prove that if these three circles are all congruent, then ABCABC 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("AA", A, dir(point--A));
label("BB", B, dir(point--B));
label("CC", C, dir(point--C));
label("DD", D, dir(point--D));
label("EE", E, dir(point--E));
label("FF", F, dir(point--F));
label("GG", G, dir(7));[/asy]

This one wants a proof. Work it on paper, read the official solution, then mark yourself honestly — the ladder only means something if the record is true.

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 AFGAFG, BDGBDG, and CDGCDG are equal.

2. Inradius and Semi-Perimeter:
- For any triangle with area AA, semi-perimeter ss, and inradius rr, the relationship A=rsA = rs holds. Since the incircles of triangles AFGAFG, BDGBDG, and CDGCDG are congruent, they have the same inradius rr. This implies that the semi-perimeters of these triangles are equal.

3. Medians and Centroid:
- The centroid GG of a triangle divides each median into a ratio of 2:1, with the longer segment being closer to the vertex. Let mam_a, mbm_b, and mcm_c be the lengths of the medians from vertices AA, BB, and CC respectively. Let the side lengths of triangle ABCABC be 2a2a, 2b2b, and 2c2c, where 2a2a is opposite AA, 2b2b is opposite BB, and 2c2c is opposite CC.

4. Equating Perimeters:
- Consider triangles GCDGCD and GBDGBD. The semi-perimeters of these triangles can be expressed as:
2mb3+ma3+a=2mc3+ma3+a \frac{2m_b}{3} + \frac{m_a}{3} + a = \frac{2m_c}{3} + \frac{m_a}{3} + a
Simplifying, we get:
mb=mc m_b = m_c

5. Using Stewart's Theorem:
- By Stewart's Theorem, the length of a median can be expressed as:
ma=2b2+2c2a2 m_a = \sqrt{2b^2 + 2c^2 - a^2}
Since mb=mcm_b = m_c, we have:
2a2+2c2b2=2a2+2b2c2 \sqrt{2a^2 + 2c^2 - b^2} = \sqrt{2a^2 + 2b^2 - c^2}
Squaring both sides and simplifying, we get:
2a2+2c2b2=2a2+2b2c2 2a^2 + 2c^2 - b^2 = 2a^2 + 2b^2 - c^2
b2=c2    b=c b^2 = c^2 \implies b = c

6. Equating Other Perimeters:
- Now consider triangles GBDGBD and GAFGAF. The semi-perimeters of these triangles can be expressed as:
2mb3+ma3+a=2ma3+mc3+b \frac{2m_b}{3} + \frac{m_a}{3} + a = \frac{2m_a}{3} + \frac{m_c}{3} + b
Using b=cb = c and simplifying, we get:
mb+3a=ma+3b m_b + 3a = m_a + 3b
Substituting the median lengths, we get:
2a2+b2+3a=4b2a2+3b \sqrt{2a^2 + b^2} + 3a = \sqrt{4b^2 - a^2} + 3b
Simplifying further, we get:
9(ab)2=5b2+a222a4+7a2b2+4b4 9(a - b)^2 = 5b^2 + a^2 - 2\sqrt{-2a^4 + 7a^2b^2 + 4b^4}
Dividing by b2b^2 and letting ab=u\frac{a}{b} = u, we get:
9(u1)2=5+u222u4+7u2+4 9(u-1)^2 = 5 + u^2 - 2\sqrt{-2u^4 + 7u^2 + 4}
Simplifying further, we get:
4u29u+2=2u4+7u2+4 4u^2 - 9u + 2 = -\sqrt{-2u^4 + 7u^2 + 4}
16u472u3+97u236u+4=2u4+7u2+4 16u^4 - 72u^3 + 97u^2 - 36u + 4 = -2u^4 + 7u^2 + 4
u44u3+5u22u=0 u^4 - 4u^3 + 5u^2 - 2u = 0
u(u1)2(u2)=0 u(u-1)^2(u-2) = 0
The solutions are u=0u = 0, u=1u = 1, and u=2u = 2. Clearly, u=0u = 0 and u=2u = 2 do not work. Checking u=1u = 1 shows that it works, implying a=b=ca = b = c.

7. Conclusion:
- Since a=b=ca = b = c, triangle ABCABC is equilateral.

\blacksquare

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