Triangle A B C with area 1 is inscribed in a circle. The angle bisectors of angles A , B , C meet the circle at D , E , F , respectively, as shown below. Let h a , h b , h c denote the 3 heights of triangle A B C dropped from vertices A , B , C , respectively.
What is smallest possible value of P = A D × h a + B E × h b + C F × h c ?
Give your answer to 3 decimal places.
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Great solution! We can also get A D by applying Ptolemy's theorem and cosine rule: A D . B C = A B . C D + A C . B D ⟹ A D = a ( b + c ) C D = 2 cos 2 A b + c = 2 s ( s − a ) ( b + c ) b c
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Nice approach. I could also improve the final inequality by first applying the AM/GM inequalities a + b ≥ 2 a b , a + c ≥ 2 a c , b + c ≥ b c to C F , B E , A D respectively, so that A D ≥ s ( s − a ) b c for example, before the main use of the AM/GM inequality.
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Yes, that's really nice. Should you re-post the improved solution :-)?
Form a cyclic expression in (a,b,c) . Minimize using AM-GM
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Since the function cos x is concave for 0 ≤ x ≤ 2 1 π , the AM/GM inequality tells us that 3 cos 2 1 A cos 2 1 B cos 2 1 C ≤ 3 1 ( cos 2 1 A + cos 2 1 B + cos 2 1 C ) ≤ cos ( 6 A + B + C ) = 2 1 3 and so cos 2 1 A cos 2 1 B cos 2 1 C ≤ 8 3 3 Letting s represent the semiperimeter, this tells us that b c s ( s − a ) × a c s ( s − b ) × a b s ( s − c ) ≤ 8 3 3 and hence s Δ ≤ 8 3 3 a b c where Δ is the area of the triangle. Equality occurs in all the above inequalities when the triangle is equilateral.
Standard triangle formulae tell us that (here r is the inradius) A I = ( s − a ) 2 + r 2 = ( s − a ) 2 + s ( s − a ) ( s − b ) ( s − c ) = s ( s − a ) b c and, similarly, B I = s ( s − b ) a c C I = s ( s − c ) a b Note that ∠ D B I = ∠ D B C + ∠ C B I = 2 1 A + 2 1 B = 9 0 ∘ − 2 1 C while ∠ I D B = C . Hence the triangle D B I is isosceles, and so D I = D B = 2 sin 2 1 C I B = 2 1 a s ( s − a ) b c and hence A D = s ( s − a ) b c + 2 1 a s ( s − a ) b c = 2 1 s ( s − a ) b c [ 2 ( s − a ) + a ] = 2 1 s ( s − a ) b c ( b + c ) and, similarly, B E = 2 1 s ( s − b ) a c ( a + c ) C F = 2 1 s ( s − c ) a b ( a + b ) Since Δ = 2 1 a h a = 2 1 b h b = 2 1 c h c , we deduce that P = A D h a + B E h b + C F h c = a b + c b c ( s − b ) ( s − c ) + b a + c a c ( s − a ) ( s − c ) + c a + b a b ( s − a ) ( s − b ) Splitting a b + c = a b + a c and so on (treating P as a sum of six terms), the AM/GM inequality gives P ≥ 6 [ a 2 b c b c ( s − b ) ( s − c ) × b 2 a c a c ( s − a ) ( s − b ) × c 2 a b a b ( s − a ) ( s − b ) ] 6 1 = 6 [ a 2 b 2 c 2 ( s − a ) 2 ( s − b ) 2 ( s − c ) 2 ] 6 1 = 6 [ a b c ( s − a ) ( s − b ) ( s − c ) ] 3 1 = 6 [ s a b c Δ 2 ] 3 1 ≥ 6 [ 3 3 8 Δ 3 ] 3 1 = 4 3 Δ with equality when the triangle is equilateral. In this case, with Δ = 1 , we see that the minimum value of P is 4 3 .