The Special Point in a Triangle 2

Geometry Level 5

Let O O be a point in acute-angle triangle A B C ABC .

D D is the intersection of A O AO and B C BC . E , F E,F are defined similarly.

X X is the intersection of E F EF and A D AD . Y , Z Y,Z are defined similarly.

Let P P be the intersection of X Y XY and C F CF and Q Q be the intersection of X Z XZ and B E BE .

R R is the intersection of A P AP with B C BC and S S is the intersection of A Q AQ with B C BC .

When O O is the circumcentre , B R R C = 4 3 9 \frac{BR}{RC}=\frac{4 \sqrt{3}}{9} .

When O O is the orthocentre , B R R C = 2 3 3 \frac{BR}{RC}=\frac{2 \sqrt{3}}{3} .

Find 4 × C B \frac{4 \times \angle C}{\angle B} where we measure the angles in degrees.

Note : Where intersections between sides are described it is assumed the sides are extended if necessary.

The Special Point In A Triangle 1


The answer is 6.

This section requires Javascript.
You are seeing this because something didn't load right. We suggest you, (a) try refreshing the page, (b) enabling javascript if it is disabled on your browser and, finally, (c) loading the non-javascript version of this page . We're sorry about the hassle.

1 solution

Sam Bealing
Apr 3, 2016

Solution using areal coordinates:

Let A = ( 1 , 0 , 0 ) , B = ( 0 , 1 , 0 ) , C = ( 0 , 0 , 1 ) , O = ( l , m , n ) A=(1,0,0),B=(0,1,0),C=(0,0,1),O=(l,m,n) then we have: D = ( 0 , m , n ) , E = ( l , 0 , n ) , F = ( l , m , 0 ) D=(0,m,n),E=(l,0,n),F=(l,m,0)

The line A D AD has equation y n m z = 0 yn-mz=0 and E F EF has equation x n m + y n l + z l m = 0 -xnm+ynl+zlm=0 . It follows that X = ( 2 l , m , n ) X=(2l,m,n) is on both lines. Symettrically, we have Y = ( l , 2 m , n ) , Z = ( l , m , 2 n ) Y=(l,2m,n),Z=(l,m,2n) .

The line X Y XY has equation m n x n l y + 3 m l z = 0 -mnx-nly+3mlz=0 and C F CF has equation x m + y l = 0 -xm+yl=0 . Again, P = ( 3 l , 3 m , 2 n ) P=(3l,3m,2n) is on both of these lines. By symmetry, Q = ( 3 l , 2 m , 3 n ) Q=(3l,2m,3n) .

It follows then that R = ( 0 , 3 m , 2 n ) , S = ( 0 , 2 m , 3 n ) R=(0,3m,2n),S=(0,2m,3n) so B R R C = 2 n 3 m \frac{BR}{RC}=\frac{2n}{3m} .

It is known that the circumcentre has coordinates ( s i n ( 2 A ) , s i n ( 2 B ) , s i n ( 2 C ) ) (sin(2A),sin(2B),sin(2C)) and the orthocentre: ( t a n ( A ) , t a n ( B ) , t a n ( C ) ) (tan(A),tan(B),tan(C))

So 2 s i n ( 2 C ) 3 s i n ( 2 B ) = 4 3 9 s i n ( 2 C ) s i n ( 2 B ) = 2 3 3 s i n ( C ) c o s ( C ) s i n ( B ) c o s ( B ) = 2 3 3 \frac{2 sin(2C)}{3 sin(2B)}=\frac{4 \sqrt{3}}{9} \Rightarrow \frac{sin(2C)}{sin(2B)}=\frac{2 \sqrt{3}}{3} \Rightarrow \frac{sin(C) cos(C)}{sin(B) cos(B)}=\frac{2 \sqrt{3}}{3}

And: 2 t a n ( C ) 3 t a n ( B ) = 2 3 3 c o s ( B ) s i n ( C ) s i n ( B ) c o s ( C ) = 3 \frac{2 tan(C)}{3 tan(B)}=\frac{2 \sqrt{3}}{3} \Rightarrow \frac{cos(B)sin(C)}{sin(B)cos(C)}=\sqrt{3}

Multiplying these two gives: ( s i n ( C ) s i n ( B ) ) 2 = 6 3 = 2 s i n ( C ) s i n ( B ) = 2 (\frac{sin(C)}{sin(B)})^2=\frac{6}{3}=2 \Rightarrow \frac{sin(C)}{sin(B)}=\sqrt{2}

Putting this back into the first expression gives c o s ( C ) c o s ( B ) = 6 3 \frac{cos(C)}{cos(B)}=\frac{\sqrt{6}}{3}

Combining c o s ( C ) = 6 3 c o s ( B ) ( c o s ( C ) ) 2 = 2 3 ( c o s ( B ) ) 2 cos(C)=\frac{\sqrt{6}}{3} cos(B) \Rightarrow (cos(C))^2=\frac{2}{3} (cos(B))^2 and s i n ( C ) = 2 s i n ( B ) ( s i n ( C ) ) 2 = 2 ( s i n ( B ) ) 2 sin(C)=\sqrt{2} sin(B) \Rightarrow (sin(C))^2=2 (sin(B))^2 gives:

( c o s ( C ) ) 2 + ( s i n ( C ) ) 2 = 1 = 2 ( s i n ( B ) ) 2 + 2 3 ( c o s ( B ) ) 2 = 4 3 ( s i n ( B ) ) 2 + 2 3 ( c o s ( B ) ) 2 + ( s i n ( B ) ) 2 ) = 4 3 ( s i n ( B ) ) 2 + 2 3 (cos(C))^2+(sin(C))^2=1=2 (sin(B))^2+\frac{2}{3} (cos(B))^2=\frac{4}{3} (sin(B))^2+\frac{2}{3} (cos(B))^2+(sin(B))^2)=\frac{4}{3} (sin(B))^2+ \frac{2}{3}

1 3 = 4 3 ( s i n ( B ) ) 2 ( s i n ( B ) ) 2 = 1 4 s i n ( B ) = 1 2 B = 3 0 \Rightarrow \frac{1}{3}=\frac{4}{3} (sin(B))^2 \Rightarrow (sin(B))^2=\frac{1}{4} \Rightarrow sin(B)=\frac{1}{2} \Rightarrow \angle B=30^{\circ} as A B C ABC is acute.

s i n ( C ) = 2 s i n ( B ) s i n ( C ) = 2 2 C = 4 5 sin(C)=\sqrt{2} sin(B) \Rightarrow sin(C)=\frac{\sqrt{2}}{2} \Rightarrow \angle C=45^{\circ}

So 4 × C B = 180 30 = 6 \frac{4 \times \angle C}{\angle B}=\frac{180}{30}=6 .

I wonder if someone can come up with a more elegant solution.

0 pending reports

×

Problem Loading...

Note Loading...

Set Loading...