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Triangles, Incircles, and an Excircle (Posted on 2014-05-24) Difficulty: 3 of 5

  
A line through vertex A of ΔABC intersects line BC
at point P such that B lies between P and C. The incircle
of ΔABC (with radius r) touches side BC at point K.
The incircle of ΔABP (with radius r1) touches side AB
at point I. The excircle of ΔACP (with radius r2) touches
side AC at point J.

(a) Prove that the line IJ cuts the perimeter of ΔABC
      into two equal pieces.

(b) Prove that r1|CK| + r2|BK| is equal to the area of ΔABC.
  

  Submitted by Bractals    
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Solution: (Hide)

  
Let us add some more points to our problem:

Let L, M, and N be the incenters and excenter of ΔABP,
ΔABC, and ΔACP respectively. Let the incircle of ΔABP
touch sides AP and BP at points D and F respectively. Let
the excircle of ΔACP touch rays PA and PC at points E
and G respectively.

Part (a)
    |PE| = |PG|                  (1)
    |PD| = |PF|                  (2)  
    |DE| = |FG|                  (1) minus (2)

           |IA| + |AJ| 
         = |DA| + |AE|
         = |DE|
         = |FG|
         = |FB| + |BC| + |CG|
         = |IB| + |BC| + |CJ|
Part (b)

From similar right triangles LFB and BKM:
      r1      |LF|     |BK|     |BK|
    ------ = ------ = ------ = ------
     |BF|     |FB|     |KM|      r
From similar right triangles NGC and CKM:
      r2      |NG|     |CK|     |CK|
    ------ = ------ = ------ = ------
     |CG|     |GC|     |KM|      r
With the semiperimeter of ΔABC being
s = (|AB|+|BC|+|CA|)/2, lets calculate the
distances from vertices to points of tangency;

|BK| = s - |CA|,
|CK| = s - |AB|,
|BF| = (|AB|+|BP|-|PA|)/2,
|CG| = (|PA|+|AC|-|CP|)/2, and
|BF| + |CG| = s - |BC|.

Therefore,
      r1|CK| + r2|BK|

    = (|BF||BK|/r)*|CK| + (|CG||CK|/r)*|BK|

    = (|BK||CK|/r)*[|BF| + |CG|]

       (s-|CA|)(s-|AB|)    
    = ------------------ * (s-|BC|)
               r

       (s-|CA|)(s-|AB|)(s-|BC|)    
    = --------------------------
                  r

       s(s-|CA|)(s-|AB|)(s-|BC|)    
    = ---------------------------
                  r*s

       Area(ΔABC)2
    = -------------
       Area(ΔABC)

    = Area(ΔABC)
QED
  

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