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Printjmc
geometry senior
Problem
In with , , and , let be a point on such that the incircles of and have equal radii. Then , where and are relatively prime positive integers. Find .
Solution
Let , then . Also let Clearly, . We can also express each area by the rs formula. Then . Equating and cross-multiplying yields or Note that for to be positive, we must have . By Stewart's Theorem, we have or Brute forcing by plugging in our previous result for , we have Clearing the fraction and gathering like terms, we get Aside: Since must be rational in order for our answer to be in the desired form, we can use the Rational Root Theorem to reveal that is an integer. The only such in the above-stated range is . Legitimately solving that quartic, note that and should clearly be solutions, corresponding to the sides of the triangle and thus degenerate cevians. Factoring those out, we get The only solution in the desired range is thus . Then , and our desired ratio , giving us an answer of .
Final answer
45