Maths Olympiad Prep

Track / Stage 6 / 354 of 400 #1354 of 1964

Problem 1354

National Olympiad, first round
Algebra Difficulty 6.5 Prove it

(BUL 6) IMO5{ }^{\mathrm{IMO5}} In the tetrahedron SABCS A B C the angle BSCB S C is a right angle, and the projection of the vertex SS to the plane ABCA B C is the intersection of the altitudes of the triangle ABCA B C. Let zz be the radius of the inscribed circle of the triangle ABCA B C. Prove that
SA2+SB2+SC2≥18z2. S A^{2}+S B^{2}+S C^{2} \geq 18 z^{2} .

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Official solution

3. We shall use the following lemma
Lemma. If an altitude of a tetrahedron passes through the orthocenter of the opposite side, then each of the other altitudes possesses the same property.
Proof. Denote the tetrahedron by SABCS A B C and let a=BC,b=CAa=B C, b=C A, c=AB,m=SA,n=SB,p=SCc=A B, m=S A, n=S B, p=S C. It is enough to prove that an altitude passes through the orthocenter of the opposite side if and only if a2+m2=b2+n2=c2+p2a^{2}+m^{2}=b^{2}+n^{2}=c^{2}+p^{2}.
Suppose that the foot S′S^{\prime} of the altitude from SS is the orthocenter of ABCA B C. Then SS′⊥ABC⇒SB2−SC2=S′B2−S′C2S S^{\prime} \perp A B C \Rightarrow S B^{2}-S C^{2}=S^{\prime} B^{2}-S^{\prime} C^{2}. But from AS′⊥BCA S^{\prime} \perp B C it follows that AB2−AC2=S′B2−S′C2A B^{2}-A C^{2}=S^{\prime} B^{2}-S^{\prime} C^{2}. From these two equalities it can be concluded that n2−p2=c2−b2n^{2}-p^{2}=c^{2}-b^{2}, or equivalently, n2+b2=c2+p2n^{2}+b^{2}=c^{2}+p^{2}. Analogously, a2+m2=n2+b2a^{2}+m^{2}=n^{2}+b^{2}, so we have proved the first part of the equivalence.
Now suppose that a2+m2=b2+n2=c2+p2a^{2}+m^{2}=b^{2}+n^{2}=c^{2}+p^{2}. Defining S′S^{\prime} as before, we get n2−p2=S′B2−S′C2n^{2}-p^{2}=S^{\prime} B^{2}-S^{\prime} C^{2}. From the condition n2−p2=c2−ℓ2n^{2}-p^{2}=c^{2}-\ell^{2} (⇔b2+n2=c2+p2)\left(\Leftrightarrow b^{2}+n^{2}=c^{2}+p^{2}\right) we conclude that AS′⊥BCA S^{\prime} \perp B C. In the same way CS′⊥ABC S^{\prime} \perp A B, which proves that S′S^{\prime} is the orthocenter of △ABC\triangle A B C. The lemma is thus proven.
Now using the lemma it is easy to see that if one of the angles at SS is right, than so are the others. Indeed, suppose that ∠ASB=π/2\angle A S B=\pi / 2. From the lemma we have that the altitude from CC passes through the orthocenter of △ASB\triangle A S B, which is SS, so CS⊥ASBC S \perp A S B and ∠CSA=∠CSB=π/2\angle C S A=\angle C S B=\pi / 2.
Therefore m2+n2=c2,n2+p2=a2m^{2}+n^{2}=c^{2}, n^{2}+p^{2}=a^{2}, and p2+m2=b2p^{2}+m^{2}=b^{2}, so it follows that m2+n2+μ2=(a2+b2+c2)/2m^{2}+n^{2}+\mu^{2}=\left(a^{2}+b^{2}+c^{2}\right) / 2. By the inequality between the arithmetic and quadric means, we have that (a2+b2+c2)/2≥2s2/3\left(a^{2}+b^{2}+c^{2}\right) / 2 \geq 2 s^{2} / 3, where s denotes the semiperimeter of △ABC\triangle A B C. It remains to be shown that 2s2/3≥18r22 s^{2} / 3 \geq 18 r^{2}. Since S△ABC=srS_{\triangle A B C}=s r, this is equivalent to 2s4/3≥2 s^{4} / 3 \geq 18SABC2=18s(s−a)(s−b)(s−c)18 S_{A B C}^{2}=18 s(s-a)(s-b)(s-c) by Heron's formula. This reduces to s3≥27(s−a)(s−b)(s−c)s^{3} \geq 27(s-a)(s-b)(s-c), which is an obvious consequence of the AM-GM mean inequality.
Remark. In the place of the lemma one could prove that the opposite edges of the tetrahedron are mutually perpendicular and proceed in the same way.

Source: NuminaMath-1.5, licensed Apache-2.0. Statement reproduced verbatim; metadata (topic, difficulty, ordering) added by this project.