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PrintFINAL ROUND
Belarus geometry
Problem
Given two hyperbolae and with the equations and , respectively. A straight line meets at points and , and meets at points and . Let be the origin of coordinates. Prove that the areas of the triangles and are equal. (S. Mazanik)

Solution
Without loss of generality we can assume that the positions of all hyperbolae, lines, and points look like in the figure (otherwise we can rotate the plane by the angle which is a multiple of , and rename the points). Let , , , . Note that all numbers , , , are pairwise distinct and , . We write the equations of the line and passing through the pairs of points and :
Since these lines coincide, , we have The abscissa of the midpoint of the segment is equal to , and from (1) it follows that it is equal to the abscissa of the midpoint of the segment . Since the points , , , lie on the same line, we see that is the midpoint of the segments and . So . Since the lengths of the altitudes of the triangles and from the vertex are equal, we see that the area of these triangles are equal.
Since these lines coincide, , we have The abscissa of the midpoint of the segment is equal to , and from (1) it follows that it is equal to the abscissa of the midpoint of the segment . Since the points , , , lie on the same line, we see that is the midpoint of the segments and . So . Since the lengths of the altitudes of the triangles and from the vertex are equal, we see that the area of these triangles are equal.
Techniques
Cartesian coordinatesDistance chasingRotation