Orthocenter and Parallelogram

Geometry Level 5

In triangle A B C ABC with A B = 13 , B C = 14 , C A = 15 AB=13, BC=14, CA=15 and orthocenter H , H, let N N be the midpoint of A H AH and let M M be a point such that B H C M BHCM is a parallelogram. If M N MN intersects B C BC at P P , then B P P C = m n \dfrac{BP}{PC}=\dfrac{m}{n} for some relatively prime positive integers m m and n n . Find m + n m+n .


The answer is 434.

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1 solution

Let D D be the intersection of lines A H AH and B C BC and let X X be the foot of the perpendicular from M M to B C BC . Then M X N D MX\parallel ND . Since B H C M BHCM is a parallelogram, we have H B D = M C X \angle{HBD}=\angle{MCX} , which follows that H B D M C X \triangle{HBD}\cong\triangle{MCX} by hypotenuse-leg theorem, so we have B D = C X BD=CX and H D = M X HD=MX .

Using Heron's Formula, we get [ A B C ] = 84 [ABC]=84 , where [ A B C ] [ABC] is the area of A B C \triangle{ABC} and A D = 12 AD=12 . Also, by Pythagorean Theorem, we get B D = C X = 5 BD=CX=5 and C D = 9 CD=9 , so D X = C D C X = 4 DX=CD-CX=4 . Furthermore, we have A H = 2 R cos A AH=2R\cos A (see note below for the derivation of this formula), so by Cosine Law, we have cos A = 1 3 2 + 1 5 2 1 4 2 2 13 15 = 33 65 , R = 13 14 15 4 84 = 65 8 \cos A=\dfrac{13^2+15^2-14^2}{2\cdot 13\cdot 15}=\dfrac{33}{65}, R=\dfrac{13\cdot 14\cdot 15}{4\cdot 84}=\dfrac{65}{8} and A H = 2 65 8 33 65 = 33 4 AH=2\cdot\dfrac{65}{8}\cdot\dfrac{33}{65}=\dfrac{33}{4} . Since N N is the midpoint of A H AH , we deduce that A N = 33 8 AN=\dfrac{33}{8} and N D = A D A N = 12 33 8 = 63 8 ND=AD-AN=12-\dfrac{33}{8}=\dfrac{63}{8} . We also have M X = H D = A D A H = 12 33 4 = 15 4 MX=HD=AD-AH=12-\dfrac{33}{4}=\dfrac{15}{4} . Note that M X N D MX\parallel ND gives M P X N P D \triangle{MPX}\sim\triangle{NPD} (by AA similarity theorem), so we get X P P D = M X N D = 15 4 63 8 = 10 21 , \dfrac{XP}{PD}=\dfrac{MX}{ND}=\dfrac{\frac{15}{4}}{\frac{63}{8}}=\dfrac{10}{21}, and with D X = 4 DX=4 , we get X P = 4 10 31 = 40 31 XP=4\cdot\dfrac{10}{31}=\dfrac{40}{31} and P D = 4 21 31 = 84 31 PD=4\cdot\dfrac{21}{31}=\dfrac{84}{31} . Thus, we get B P P C = B D + D P C X + X P = 5 + 84 31 5 + 40 31 = 155 + 84 155 + 40 = 239 195 , \dfrac{BP}{PC}=\dfrac{BD+DP}{CX+XP}=\dfrac{5+\frac{84}{31}}{5+\frac{40}{31}}=\dfrac{155+84}{155+40}=\dfrac{239}{195}, and m + n = 239 + 195 = 434 m+n=239+195=\boxed{434} .

Note: The derivation of A H = 2 R cos A AH=2R\cos A is as follows: let M M and N N be the foot of the altitudes of A A and B B , respectively. Then, A N M B ANMB is cyclic, so A N H B N C \triangle{ANH}\sim\triangle{BNC} , which implies that A H = A N B C B N AH=\dfrac{AN\cdot BC}{BN} . But considering triangle A N B ANB we have B N = A N tan A BN=AN\tan A and by Sine Law, B C = 2 R cos A BC=2R\cos A . Thus, by substitution, we have A H = A N 2 R sin A A N tan A = 2 R cos A . AH=\dfrac{AN\cdot 2R\sin A}{AN\tan A}=2R\cos A.

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