Let ABC be a triangle with AB<AC, I its incenter, and M the midpoint of the side BC. If IA=IM, determine the smallest possible value of the angle AIM.
Solution
Let {D}=AI∩BC. As AB<AC, D lies between B and M and ∠ACB<∠ABC. We have ∠IDB=∠DAC+∠ACB<∠DAB+∠ABD=∠ADC, therefore angle IDB is acute. Let F and E be the projections of I onto AB and BC, respectively. It follows that E∈(BD)⊂BM. Triangles IBF and IBE are congruent and so are triangles IFA and IEM, therefore BA=BM=2BC and triangles IBA and IBM are congruent.
We have: ∠MID=∠IDB−∠IMB=∠DAC+∠ACD−∠IAB=∠ACD. It follows that ∠AIM=180∘−∠ACB (1). Let H be the projection of B onto the line AC. It follows that BH≤AB=2BC, which shows that ∠ACB≤30∘ (2). From (1) and (2) we obtain that ∠AIM≥180∘−30∘=150∘.
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Source: MathNet,
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