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Geometry Difficulty 5.1 AIME, harder Prove it Brazil

The sidelengths and area of a triangle are all integer numbers. Find the minimum value of its area.

Solution

The 33–44–55 triangle has area 3⋅42=6\frac{3 \cdot 4}{2} = 6. We will prove that no other triangle with integer sidelengths and area has smaller area.
Let aa, bb, cc be the sidelengths. Then its area is S=s(s−a)(s−b)(s−c)S = \sqrt{s(s-a)(s-b)(s-c)}, where s=a+b+c2s = \frac{a+b+c}{2}. Since the area is also an integer, a+b+ca+b+c is even, and ss, s−as-a, s−bs-b, s−cs-c are all integers.
Now, notice that the triangle cannot be equilateral, since equilateral triangles with an integer side have irrational area. So, at least two of the three integer numbers s−as-a, s−bs-b, s−cs-c are distinct and, since s=(s−a)+(s−b)+(s−c)≥1+1+2=4s = (s-a) + (s-b) + (s-c) \ge 1+1+2 = 4, S≥4⋅2⋅2⋅1=8S \ge \sqrt{4 \cdot 2 \cdot 2 \cdot 1} = \sqrt{8}, so S≥3S \ge 3.
If SS is odd, s≥5s \ge 5 and s−as-a, s−bs-b, s−cs-c are all odd, so S≥5⋅3⋅1⋅1=15S \ge \sqrt{5 \cdot 3 \cdot 1 \cdot 1} = \sqrt{15}, so S≥5S \ge 5. The only relevant case is S=5S = 5. But this would imply two of ss, s−as-a, s−bs-b, s−cs-c being equal to 55, which is impossible.
If SS is even, the only relevant case is S=4S = 4. But then all of ss, s−as-a, s−bs-b, s−cs-c are powers of two. So if s>4s > 4 then s≥8s \ge 8 and s−as-a, s−bs-b, s−cs-c would be, in some order, 11, 11, 22, which is not possible because s=(s−a)+(s−b)+(s−c)s = (s-a)+(s-b)+(s-c). If s=4s = 4, the only possibility would be s−as-a, s−bs-b, s−cs-c being 11, 11, 22, which does not work either.

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