In △ A B C , A B = 1 , A C = 2 , B C = 3 .
M is a point inside △ A B C so that M A ⋅ M B S △ M A B = M B ⋅ M C S △ M B C = M C ⋅ M A S △ M C A .
What is the value of ( M A + M B + M C ) 2 ?
Note : S △ X Y Z denotes the area of △ X Y Z .
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Let B have coordinates ( 0 , 0 ) , A have coordinates ( 0 , 1 ) , C have coordinates ( 3 , 0 ) , and M have coordinates ( p , q ) .
Then S △ M A B = 2 1 p , S △ M B C = 2 3 q , and S △ M B C = 2 3 − 2 1 p − 2 3 q .
And M A = ( − p , 1 − q ) , M B = ( − p , − q ) , and M C = ( 3 − p , − q ) .
So M A ⋅ M B = 2 p 2 + 2 q 2 − 2 q , M B ⋅ M C = 2 p 2 + 2 q 2 − 2 3 p , and M C ⋅ M A = 2 p 2 + 2 q 2 − 2 3 p − 2 q .
Substituting into the given equations gives 2 p 2 + 2 q 2 − 2 q 2 1 p = 2 p 2 + 2 q 2 − 2 3 p 2 3 q = 2 p 2 + 2 q 2 − 2 3 p − 2 q 2 3 − 2 1 p − 2 3 q which solves to p = 7 3 and q = 7 2 .
Then A M = 7 2 , B M = 7 1 , and C M = 7 4 , so that ( A M + B M + C M ) 2 = 7 .