Construct triangle ABC, given ha, hb (the altitudes from A and B), and ma, the median from vertex A.
Problem
Source: IMO 1960, Day 2, Problem 4
Tags: geometry, construction, altitudes, IMO, IMO 1960
08.10.2005 19:38
I found two triangles. Is this correct? Well, suppose we have constructed the triangle ABC with the altitudes AD=ha,BE=hb and the median AM=ma The perpendicular from M to AC intersects the line AC at a point K. From the triangle BCE we can see that MK=hb2. So, let's start with the construction. We construct first the triangle ADM. It's easy to construct it, since we know that it is right with hypotenuse AM and one perpendicular side AD. (so it should be ma>ha) Then, we construct another right triangle AMK with the same hypotenuse AM and one perpendicular side MK equal to hb2. So the other restriction is ma>hb2 There is not just one point K with the above properties. There are two points K1,K2 on opposite sides of AM. For each K (K1 or K2) , the ray AK intersects the line DM at the point C. Now it's easy to find the point B, which is the symmetric of C w.r.t. M. The triangle ABC has the altitude ha=AD, and the median ma=AM. If we bring the altitude BE from B, then BE=2⋅MK=hb In my scetch there are two triangles, one for each place of K
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17.08.2022 11:55
I have discussed this problem on my YouTube channel: Video link: Video Solution