Computational Geometry AwesomeMath Summer Program 2024

Computational Geometry
Last update: June 8, 2024

1 Triangle I
As the name suggests, much (though not all) of the material in this course will involve computation. It will
be useful to make sure we have the basics mastered. Thus, our first session will mainly serve as review of
material you probably already know. The problems here will be representative of the difficulty throughout
the course.
Throughout this course, we will use the following standard notation for a generic triangle ABC:

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ˆ The side lengths BC, CA, and AB are denoted by a, b, and c;

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ˆ The height from A to BC is denoted by ha , with hb and hc defined similarly;

ˆ The semiperimeter (not the perimeter!) of a triangle is s := a+b+c

2 ;

ˆ The area of 4ABC is denoted by K;

orthocenter, respectively.
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ˆ The inradius and circumradius of 4ABC are denoted by r and R, respectively.

ˆ Unless otherwise specified, O, I, G, and H will represent the circumcenter, incenter, centroid, and

Other pieces of (mostly standard) notation will pop up throughout the course, and we will make note of
these when the time comes.
Our first main theorem today relates the sides of a triangle to their angles.
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Theorem 1.1: Law of Sines
Let ABC be a triangle. Then
a b c
= = = 2R.
sin A sin B sin C

With the Law of Sines, we can prove several other important results in computational geometry.
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Theorem 1.2: Ratio Lemma

Let D be a point on side BC of 4ABC. Then
BD BA sin ∠BAD
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= .
CD CA sin ∠CAD

One nice thing to keep in mind about the Ratio Lemma is that D need not lie on the segment BC!
Corollary 1.3: Angle Bisector Theorems

Let D and D0 be the feet of the internal and external angle bisectors from A to BC, respectively.
Then
BD BD0 AB
= 0 = .
DC DC AC

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Computational Geometry AwesomeMath Summer Program 2024

Example 1.1: Steiner

Suppose D and E lie on BC such that ∠BAD = ∠EAC. Show that

 2
BD BE BA
· = .
DC EC AC

Corollary 1.4: Special Cases of Steiner

Let D and E be defined as above.

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1. If D = E, then this point is the foot of the internal angle bisector from A and we recover the
Angle Bisector Theorem.

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AB 2
2. If E is the midpoint of BC, then BD


DC = AC . Line AD is called the “A-symmedian” of
4ABC.

Our next result is a favorite among math contest enthusiasts.

Theorem 1.5: Law of Cosines
Let ABC be a triangle. Then
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c2 = a2 + b2 − 2ab cos C,
and likewise for the other two sides of the triangle.

Like the Law of Sines, the Law of Cosines allows for many corollaries.
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Corollary 1.6

In triangle ABC,

ˆ A < 90◦ if and only if b2 + c2 > a2 ;

ˆ A = 90◦ if and only if b2 + c2 = a2 ;

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ˆ A > 90◦ if and only if b2 + c2 < a2 .

Corollary 1.7: Stewart

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Using the lengths in the diagram shown below,

dad + man = bmb + cnc.

Stewart itself has some useful corollaries; you will be asked to derive some of them in the exercises.

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Computational Geometry AwesomeMath Summer Program 2024

Two more useful results before our final example.

Theorem 1.8: Perpendicularity Criterion

Lines AC and BD are perpendicular if and only if

AB 2 + CD2 = AD2 + BC 2 .

Theorem 1.9: Carnot

Suppose X, Y , and Z lie on sides BC, CA, and AB, respectively, of 4ABC. Then the perpendiculars
from X, Y , and Z from their respective sides are concurrent if and only if

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BX 2 + CY 2 + AZ 2 = CX 2 + AY 2 + BZ 2 .

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Finally, as promised, one last example that ties many of our previous results together.
Example 1.2

Let ABC be a triangle. Show that

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OG2 = R2 − (a2 + b2 + c2 ).
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Deduce that 9R2 ≥ a2 + b2 + c2 for any triangle. When does equality hold?
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2 Problem Set
Problem 1: (AIME 1987) Triangle ABC has a right angle at B and contains a point P such that P A = 10, P B = 6,
and ∠AP B = ∠BP C = ∠CP A. Find P C.

Problem 2: Let a, b, c, d be lines through point P . A line ` intersects these lines at A, B, C, D, respectively. Prove
that the quantity
AC · BD
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BC · AD
does not depend on the choice of line `.

Problem√ 3: (AMTNJ √2009?) In right triangle ABC, P Q and QR are drawn so that AQ = AP and BQ = BR. If
P Q = 4 3 and QR = 3 6, what is P R?
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Problem 4: Let Ω be a circle and let A, B be any points. On circle Ω find point X such that AX 2 + BX 2 attains
the maximal value.

Problem 5: Let ABCD be a parallelogram. Prove that

2(AB 2 + BC 2 ) = AC 2 + BD2 .

Deduce that the length of the median from A to BC is

r
2(b2 + c2 ) − a2
ma = .
4

Problem 6: Show that the length of the angle bisector from A to BC is given by
 2 !
a
`a = bc 1 − .
b+c

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Computational Geometry AwesomeMath Summer Program 2024

Problem 7: (AIME 1989) Let a, b, c be the three sides of a triangle, and let α, β, γ, be the angles opposite them.
If a2 + b2 = 1989c2 , find
cot γ
.
cot α + cot β

Problem 8: (Steiner-Lehmus) Prove that if two internal angle bisectors of given triangle have equal length, then
the triangle is isosceles.

Problem 9: Let ABCD be a rectangle. Prove that for any point X (not necessarily inside the rectangle)

AX 2 + CX 2 = BX 2 + DX 2 .

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Problem 10: Two circles (Ω1 , r1 ) and (Ω2 , r2 ) are internally tangent to a circle (Ω, R) through A, B, respectively.
Prove that the length of the common external tangent of Ω1 and Ω2 is given by:
AB p
(R − r1 )(R − r2 ).

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R
Can you find similar formula when Ω1 and Ω2 are both external or external and internal tangent to Ω?

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