There Are Too Many Things!

Geometry Level 5

Let A B C ABC be a triangle with incircle ω \omega . Let D D , E E and F F be the points of tangency of ω \omega with A B AB , B C BC and C A CA . Let G G be the intersection of D F DF and B C BC and H H be the intersection of D E DE and A C AC ( G G , H H , E E and F F are on the same side of A B AB ). Let M M be the midpoint of F H FH and N N be the midpoint of E G EG .

If the area of A B M N ABMN is 100 and the area of C M N CMN is 4, find the area of E F G H EFGH .

Bonus : Can you generalise this?


Kudos to Xuming Liang for helping me solve this question.


The answer is 80.

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1 solution

Sharky Kesa
Mar 11, 2016

We will first find expressions for the areas.

A B M N = 1 2 × A M × B N × sin C 200 sin C = A M × B N C M N = 1 2 × C M × C N × sin C 8 sin C = C M × C N E F G H = 1 2 × E G × F H × sin C 2 E F G H sin C = E G × F H \begin{aligned} |ABMN| &= \dfrac{1}{2} \times AM \times BN \times \sin C\\ \dfrac{200}{\sin C} &= AM \times BN\\ |CMN| &= \dfrac{1}{2} \times CM \times CN \times \sin C\\ \dfrac{8}{\sin C} &= CM \times CN\\ |EFGH| &= \dfrac {1}{2} \times EG \times FH \times \sin C\\ \dfrac{2|EFGH|}{\sin C} &= EG \times FH \end{aligned}

By Menelaus' in Δ A B C \Delta ABC with line D F G DFG (no directed lengths),

A D D B × B G G C × C F F A = + 1 \dfrac {AD}{DB} \times \dfrac {BG}{GC} \times \dfrac {CF}{FA} = +1

Because A D AD and A F AF are tangents to ω \omega , A D = A F AD=AF . Thus,

C F D B × B G G C = + 1 \dfrac {CF}{DB} \times \dfrac {BG}{GC} = +1

B G C G = B D C F \dfrac {BG}{CG} = \dfrac {BD}{CF}

Since B D BD and B E BE are tangents to ω \omega , B D = B E BD=BE . Similarly, C E = C F CE=CF . Therefore,

B G C G = B E C E \dfrac {BG}{CG} = \dfrac {BE}{CE}

C G C E = B G B E \dfrac {CG}{CE} = \dfrac {BG}{BE}

By Componendo et Dividendo,

C G + C E C G C E = B G + B E B G B E \dfrac {CG+CE}{CG-CE} = \dfrac {BG+BE}{BG-BE}

E G E G 2 C E = E G + 2 B E E G \dfrac {EG}{EG-2CE} = \dfrac {EG+2BE}{EG}

2 E N 2 E N 2 E C = 2 E N + 2 B E 2 E N \dfrac {2EN}{2EN-2EC} = \dfrac {2EN+2BE}{2EN}

E N C N = B N E N \dfrac {EN}{CN} = \dfrac {BN}{EN}

E N 2 = B N × C N EN^2 = BN \times CN

Similarly, F M 2 = C M × A M FM^2 = CM \times AM . Now,

E G 2 = 4 × E N 2 = 4 × B N × C N EG^2 = 4 \times EN^2 = 4 \times BN \times CN

F H 2 = 4 × F M 2 = 4 × C M × A M FH^2 = 4 \times FM^2 = 4 \times CM \times AM

( E G × F H ) 2 = 16 × A M × B N × C M × C N (EG \times FH)^2 = 16 \times AM \times BN \times CM \times CN

4 E F G H 2 sin 2 C = 16 × 200 sin C × 8 sin C \dfrac {4|EFGH|^2}{\sin^2 C} = 16 \times \dfrac {200}{\sin C} \times \dfrac {8}{\sin C}

E F G H 2 = 6400 |EFGH|^2 = 6400

E F G H = 80 |EFGH| = 80

Therefore, the area of E F G H EFGH is 80.


For those who want the general form for the area of E F G H EFGH , it is 4 a b 4ab , where the area of A B M N ABMN is a 2 a^2 and the area of C M N CMN is b 2 b^2 . Try to prove this!

Moderator note:

Great solution! I love it when brilliant members collaborate to come up with such insightful solutions.

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