Maths Olympiad Prep

Track / Stage 6 / 330 of 400 #1330 of 1964

Problem 1330

National Olympiad, first round
Algebra Difficulty 6.5 Prove it

(SFRY, 75). Prove that for any point OO lying inside triangle ABCABC with semiperimeter pp, the following inequality holds:

OA⋅cos⁡∠BAC2+OB⋅cos⁡∠ABC2+OC⋅cos⁡∠ACB2⩾p O A \cdot \cos \frac{\angle B A C}{2} + O B \cdot \cos \frac{\angle A B C}{2} + O C \cdot \cos \frac{\angle A C B}{2} \geqslant p

Determine when equality is achieved.

This one wants a proof. Work it on paper, then read the official solution and mark yourself. Be honest about it: the record is only any use to you if it is.

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Official solution

13.13. Let α1=∠OAC,α2=∠OAB,β1=∠OBA\alpha_{1}=\angle O A C, \quad \alpha_{2}=\angle O A B, \quad \beta_{1}=\angle O B A, β2=∠OBC,γ1=∠OCB,γ2=∠OCA,α=α1+α2,β=β1+β2\beta_{2}=\angle O B C, \quad \gamma_{1}=\angle O C B, \quad \gamma_{2}=\angle O C A, \quad \alpha=\alpha_{1}+\alpha_{2}, \quad \beta=\beta_{1}+\beta_{2},

!

Fig. 84

γ=γ1+γ2\gamma=\gamma_{1}+\gamma_{2} (Fig. 84). Then the required inequality follows from the following chain of relations:

p=a+b+c2=12(OCcos⁡γ1+OCcos⁡γ2+OBcos⁡β1+OBcos⁡ρ2+p=\frac{a+b+c}{2}=\frac{1}{2}\left(O C \cos \gamma_{1}+O C \cos \gamma_{2}+O B \cos \beta_{1}+O B \cos \rho_{2}+\right.

+OAcos⁡α1+OAcos⁡α2)=OCcos⁡γ2cos⁡γ1−γ22++OBcos⁡β2cos⁡β1−β22+OAcos⁡α2cos⁡α1−α22⩽≤OAcos⁡α2+OBcos⁡β2+OCcos⁡γ2 \begin{aligned} & \left.+O A \cos \alpha_{1}+O A \cos \alpha_{2}\right)=O C \cos \frac{\gamma}{2} \cos \frac{\gamma_{1}-\gamma_{2}}{2}+ \\ & +O B \cos \frac{\beta}{2} \cos \frac{\beta_{1}-\beta_{2}}{2}+O A \cos \frac{\alpha}{2} \cos \frac{\alpha_{1}-\alpha_{2}}{2} \leqslant \\ & \quad \leq O A \cos \frac{\alpha}{2}+O B \cos \frac{\beta}{2}+O C \cos \frac{\gamma}{2} \end{aligned}

Equality is achieved when

α1=α2,β1=β2,γ1=γ2, \alpha_{1}=\alpha_{2}, \quad \beta_{1}=\beta_{2}, \quad \gamma_{1}=\gamma_{2},

i.e., when point OO is the intersection of the angle bisectors of triangle ABCA B C.

13:14. Note that when α=β=γ=60∘\alpha=\beta=\gamma=60^{\circ}, the required inequality becomes an equality. Suppose at least two angles of the triangle, say α\alpha and β\beta, are not equal, then

cos⁡α+cos⁡β+cos⁡γ=cos⁡α+cos⁡β−cos⁡(α+β)=\cos \alpha+\cos \beta+\cos \gamma=\cos \alpha+\cos \beta-\cos (\alpha+\beta)=

=2cos⁡α+β2cos⁡α−β2−cos⁡(α+β)<2cos⁡α+β2−2cos⁡2α+β2+1==2 \cos \frac{\alpha+\beta}{2} \cos \frac{\alpha-\beta}{2}-\cos (\alpha+\beta)<2 \cos \frac{\alpha+\beta}{2}-2 \cos ^{2} \frac{\alpha+\beta}{2}+1= =−12(2cos⁡α+β2−1)2+32⩽32=-\frac{1}{2}\left(2 \cos \frac{\alpha+\beta}{2}-1\right)^{2}+\frac{3}{2} \leqslant \frac{3}{2}, i.e., the required inequality is also satisfied but is strict. Thus, equality holds only for an equilateral triangle.

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