Construct a triangle given the radii of the excircles.
Problem
Source: IMO LongList 1959-1966 Problem 19
Tags: geometry, Triangle, construction, excircles, IMO Shortlist, IMO Longlist
grobber
02.09.2004 02:57
We construct a segment $x$, then a segment $y$ s.t. $xr_a=yr_b$, then a segment $z$ s.t. $xr_a=zr_c$. We then construct the triangle with sides $a'=y+z,b'=z+x,c'=x+y$, construct its $a'$-exradius $r_a'$, and rescale it to sides $a,b,c$ s.t. $\frac a{a'}=\frac {r_a}{r_a'}$.
pinkpig
14.07.2022 17:47
Let the $A$-exradii be $r_A,$ and define $r_B,r_C$ in the same manner. Also, let $r$ be the length of the inradius of $ABC.$ Thus,
\begin{align*}
\frac{s}{s-a}\cdot r&=r_A,\tag{1}\\
\frac{s}{s-b}\cdot r&=r_B,\text{ and }\tag{2}\\
\frac{s}{s-c}\cdot r&=r_C.\tag{3}
\end{align*}Dividing equations (1) and (2) and equations (1) and (3), we find that
\begin{align*}
\frac{s-b}{s-a}&=\frac{r_B}{r_A}\text{ and }\tag{4}\\
\frac{s-c}{s-a}&=\frac{r_C}{r_A}.\tag{5}
\end{align*}Adding equations (4) and (5), we find that
\begin{align*}
\frac{a}{s-a}=\frac{r_B+r_C}{r_A}&\Leftrightarrow\\
\frac{s}{s-a}=\frac{r_B+r_C+r_A}{r_A}&\Leftrightarrow\\
s-a=s\cdot \frac{r_A}{r_A+r_B+r_C}&\Leftrightarrow\\
a=s\cdot\frac{r_B+r_C}{r_A+r_B+r_C}&.
\end{align*}Therefore, we have know know that $a:b:c=r_B+r_C:r_A+r_C:r_A+r_B.$ Now, we can construct the triangle using standard techniques. (Fix $BC,$ draw circles of radius $AB,AC$ centered at $B,C,$ respectively. Their intersection (it doesn't matter which) is point $A$. Thus, we have all three vertices, which means that we have constructed the triangle).