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k a My Retirement & New Leadership at AoPS
rrusczyk   1571
N Mar 26, 2025 by SmartGroot
I write today to announce my retirement as CEO from Art of Problem Solving. When I founded AoPS 22 years ago, I never imagined that we would reach so many students and families, or that we would find so many channels through which we discover, inspire, and train the great problem solvers of the next generation. I am very proud of all we have accomplished and I’m thankful for the many supporters who provided inspiration and encouragement along the way. I'm particularly grateful to all of the wonderful members of the AoPS Community!

I’m delighted to introduce our new leaders - Ben Kornell and Andrew Sutherland. Ben has extensive experience in education and edtech prior to joining AoPS as my successor as CEO, including starting like I did as a classroom teacher. He has a deep understanding of the value of our work because he’s an AoPS parent! Meanwhile, Andrew and I have common roots as founders of education companies; he launched Quizlet at age 15! His journey from founder to MIT to technology and product leader as our Chief Product Officer traces a pathway many of our students will follow in the years to come.

Thank you again for your support for Art of Problem Solving and we look forward to working with millions more wonderful problem solvers in the years to come.

And special thanks to all of the amazing AoPS team members who have helped build AoPS. We’ve come a long way from here:IMAGE
1571 replies
rrusczyk
Mar 24, 2025
SmartGroot
Mar 26, 2025
k a March Highlights and 2025 AoPS Online Class Information
jlacosta   0
Mar 2, 2025
March is the month for State MATHCOUNTS competitions! Kudos to everyone who participated in their local chapter competitions and best of luck to all going to State! Join us on March 11th for a Math Jam devoted to our favorite Chapter competition problems! Are you interested in training for MATHCOUNTS? Be sure to check out our AMC 8/MATHCOUNTS Basics and Advanced courses.

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Do you have plans this summer? There are so many options to fit your schedule and goals whether attending a summer camp or taking online classes, it can be a great break from the routine of the school year. Check out our summer courses at AoPS Online, or if you want a math or language arts class that doesn’t have homework, but is an enriching summer experience, our AoPS Virtual Campus summer camps may be just the ticket! We are expanding our locations for our AoPS Academies across the country with 15 locations so far and new campuses opening in Saratoga CA, Johns Creek GA, and the Upper West Side NY. Check out this page for summer camp information.

Be sure to mark your calendars for the following events:
[list][*]March 5th (Wednesday), 4:30pm PT/7:30pm ET, HCSSiM Math Jam 2025. Amber Verser, Assistant Director of the Hampshire College Summer Studies in Mathematics, will host an information session about HCSSiM, a summer program for high school students.
[*]March 6th (Thursday), 4:00pm PT/7:00pm ET, Free Webinar on Math Competitions from elementary through high school. Join us for an enlightening session that demystifies the world of math competitions and helps you make informed decisions about your contest journey.
[*]March 11th (Tuesday), 4:30pm PT/7:30pm ET, 2025 MATHCOUNTS Chapter Discussion MATH JAM. AoPS instructors will discuss some of their favorite problems from the MATHCOUNTS Chapter Competition. All are welcome!
[*]March 13th (Thursday), 4:00pm PT/7:00pm ET, Free Webinar about Summer Camps at the Virtual Campus. Transform your summer into an unforgettable learning adventure! From elementary through high school, we offer dynamic summer camps featuring topics in mathematics, language arts, and competition preparation - all designed to fit your schedule and ignite your passion for learning.[/list]
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0 replies
jlacosta
Mar 2, 2025
0 replies
European Mathematical Cup 2016 senior division problem 2
steppewolf   6
N 6 minutes ago by SimplisticFormulas
For two positive integers $a$ and $b$, Ivica and Marica play the following game: Given two piles of $a$
and $b$ cookies, on each turn a player takes $2n$ cookies from one of the piles, of which he eats $n$ and puts $n$ of
them on the other pile. Number $n$ is arbitrary in every move. Players take turns alternatively, with Ivica going
first. The player who cannot make a move, loses. Assuming both players play perfectly, determine all pairs of
numbers $(a, b)$ for which Marica has a winning strategy.

Proposed by Petar Orlić
6 replies
steppewolf
Dec 31, 2016
SimplisticFormulas
6 minutes ago
inequalities hard
Cobedangiu   1
N 20 minutes ago by Cobedangiu
problem
1 reply
Cobedangiu
Monday at 11:45 AM
Cobedangiu
20 minutes ago
Something nice
KhuongTrang   25
N 23 minutes ago by KhuongTrang
Source: own
Problem. Given $a,b,c$ be non-negative real numbers such that $ab+bc+ca=1.$ Prove that

$$\sqrt{a+1}+\sqrt{b+1}+\sqrt{c+1}\le 1+2\sqrt{a+b+c+abc}.$$
25 replies
1 viewing
KhuongTrang
Nov 1, 2023
KhuongTrang
23 minutes ago
Tangent Spheres and Tangents to Spheres
Math-Problem-Solving   1
N 27 minutes ago by kiyoras_2001
Source: 2002 British Mathematical Olympiad Round 2
Prove this.
1 reply
Math-Problem-Solving
4 hours ago
kiyoras_2001
27 minutes ago
No more topics!
Geometric Inequality with Excircle
grupyorum   9
N Dec 11, 2022 by mihaig
Source: Turkey National Mathematical Olympiad 2018
In a triangle $ABC$, the bisector of the angle $A$ intersects the excircle that is tangential to side $[BC]$ at two points $D$ and $E$ such that $D\in [AE]$. Prove that,
$$
\frac{|AD|}{|AE|}\leq \frac{|BC|^2}{|DE|^2}.
$$
9 replies
grupyorum
Dec 2, 2018
mihaig
Dec 11, 2022
Geometric Inequality with Excircle
G H J
Source: Turkey National Mathematical Olympiad 2018
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grupyorum
1405 posts
#1 • 2 Y
Y by Adventure10, Mango247
In a triangle $ABC$, the bisector of the angle $A$ intersects the excircle that is tangential to side $[BC]$ at two points $D$ and $E$ such that $D\in [AE]$. Prove that,
$$
\frac{|AD|}{|AE|}\leq \frac{|BC|^2}{|DE|^2}.
$$
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grupyorum
1405 posts
#2 • 2 Y
Y by Adventure10, Mango247
Here is a trigonometric solution.
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XbenX
590 posts
#3 • 4 Y
Y by teomihai, Adventure10, Mango247, Mango247
Let $B', C'$ be points on lines $AB$ and $AC$ respectively, such that $B'C' \parallel BC$ and $B'C'$ is also tangent to $A$ excircle.
It is clear that there is a homothethy centered at A sending $\triangle ABC$ to $ \triangle AB'C'$ and from the fact that $\frac{r_a}{r}=\frac{s}{s-a}$ we have that this homothethy has a coefficient of $\frac{s}{s-a}$ (here $a=\overline{BC}$ and $s$ semiperimeter).

Let the intersection of the line $AB$ and $A$-excircle be $ X$. It is a well-known fact that $AX=s$.

Now, by the power of point $A$ w.r.t to $A$-excircle we get that $AD \cdot AE=AX^2 \Longleftrightarrow \frac{AD}{AE}= \frac{AX^2}{AE^2}$.

Lemma: In every triangle $\triangle ABC$ let $I$ be the incenter and let the angle bisector at $A$ intersect the incircle at 2 points $P, Q$ such that $AQ>AP$ then $AQ>h$ where $h$ is the altitude erected from $ A$.

Proof of lemma: Let $Y$ be the foot of $I$ into $BC $, we have that $IY=IQ$ and by triangle inequality $AQ=AI+IQ=AI+IY \geq AY \geq h$.

Now by the above lemma in triangle $AB'C' $ we have that $AE\geq h$ (here $h$ is now altitude from $A$ to $B'C'$ ).

The area of $\triangle AB'C'$ is $$r_a \cdot \frac{s^2}{s-a}= \frac{A'B' \cdot h }{2}= \frac {AB \cdot s \cdot h}{2(s-a)} \leq \frac{AB \cdot AE \cdot s}{2(s-a)}$$This gives that $2r_a \cdot s \leq BC \cdot AE$ and since $2r_a=DE$ and $s=AX$ this is equivalent to $\frac{AX}{AE} \leq \frac{BC}{DE}$ and we have that $$\boxed{\frac{AD}{AE}=\frac{AX^2}{AE^2} \leq \frac{BC^2}{DE^2}}$$$\blacksquare$

Equality at $AE=h$ (i.e when $AB=AC$)
This post has been edited 5 times. Last edited by XbenX, Sep 17, 2019, 12:24 PM
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BarisKoyuncu
577 posts
#4 • 1 Y
Y by teomihai
Claim: If $|AB|=|AC|$, then $\frac{|AD|}{|AE|}=\frac{|BC|^2}{|DE|^2}$.
Proof: Let $I_A$ be the excenter wrt $A$. Let $|AB|=|AC|=x$ and $\angle BAD=\angle CAD=2\alpha$. By angle chasing, one can find that $\frac{|AD|}{|AE|}=\frac{1-\sin{(2\alpha)}}{1+\sin{(2\alpha)}}$ and $\frac{|BC|^2}{|DE|^2}=\frac{|BD|^2}{|DI_A|^2}=\frac{\sin^2{(45^\circ-\alpha)}}{\sin^2{(45^\circ+\alpha)}}$.
You can easily verify that $\frac{1-\sin{(2\alpha)}}{1+\sin{(2\alpha)}}=\frac{\sin^2{(45^\circ-\alpha)}}{\sin^2{(45^\circ+\alpha)}}$. Hence, $\frac{|AD|}{|AE|}=\frac{|BC|^2}{|DE|^2}$, as desired. $\;\;\;\;\square$

Now, WLOG $|AC|>|AB|$.
Let $I_A$ be the excenter wrt $A$ and assume that the tangent at $D$ to the excenter intersects $AB$ and $AC$ at $X$ and $Y$, respectively.
We know that $|AX|=|AY|$ and excircle of $ABC$ of wrt $A$ is also the excircle of $AXY$ wrt $A$.
Now, if we apply our claim to $AXY$, we can find that $\frac{|AD|}{|AE|}=\frac{|XY|^2}{|DE|^2}$. Hence, it suffices to prove that $\frac{|XY|^2}{|DE|^2}<\frac{|BC|^2}{|DE|^2}\Leftrightarrow |BC|>|XY|$.
Check that the triangles $ABC$ and $AXY$ have the same perimeter.

Lemma: Given a triangle $ABC$. We have $\frac{|BC|}{\sin{(\frac A2)}}\ge |AB|+|AC|$ and equality occurs iff $|AB|=|AC|$.
Proof: Take a point $C'$ on $AB$ such that $|AC'|=|AC|$ and $A\in [BC']$. We have $\angle AC'C=\frac A2$. Hence,
$$\frac{|BC|}{\sin{(\frac A2)}}=\frac{|BC'|}{\sin{(BCC')}}=\frac{|AB|+|AC|}{\sin{(BCC')}}\ge |AB|+|AC|$$Equality occurs iff $\angle BCC'=90^\circ\Leftrightarrow |AB|=|AC|$, done.

Thus, we know that $\frac{|BC|}{\sin{(\frac A2)}}>|AB|+|AC|\Leftrightarrow |BC|+\frac{|BC|}{\sin{(\frac A2)}}>|AB|+|AC|+|BC|$.
By the Law of Sines, one can find that the perimeter of $AXY$ equals to $|XY|+\frac{|XY|}{\sin{(\frac A2)}}$.
Since the triangles $ABC$ and $AXY$ have the same perimeter, we find that
$$|BC|+\frac{|BC|}{\sin{(\frac A2)}}>|XY|+\frac{|XY|}{\sin{(\frac A2)}}\Rightarrow |BC|>|XY|\text{, as desired}.$$
Equality occurs iff $|AB|=|AC|$.
This post has been edited 2 times. Last edited by BarisKoyuncu, Dec 29, 2021, 6:28 PM
Reason: typo
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SerdarBozdag
892 posts
#5 • 1 Y
Y by GuvercinciHoca
Let $(I_A)$ be tangent to $AC$ at $T$. Line passing through $D$ cuts $AB,AC$ at $K,L$. Then $DLI_A \sim DTZ \implies $
$$\frac{AD}{AE}=\frac{DT^2}{TZ^2}=\frac{KL^2}{DE^2}\le \frac{BC^2}{DE^2}$$
This post has been edited 1 time. Last edited by SerdarBozdag, Dec 29, 2021, 7:11 PM
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badumtsss
61 posts
#6 • 1 Y
Y by joseph02
Let the tangency point of $A$ excircle and $AB$ be $X$, then $$\frac{AD}{AE}=\frac{AX^2}{AE^2}$$so we need to prove that $$\frac{s}{AE} \leq \frac{BC}{2r_a}$$where $s $ is the semiperimeter of $\triangle ABC$. $$s\cdot 2r_a = 4[AXI_A]$$and $$BC \cdot AE \geq BC\cdot (AH +2r_a) =2[ABC]+2[I_ABC]=4[AXI_A]$$where $H$ is projecton of $A$ onto $BC$. This finishes the proof.
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dnztnc
7 posts
#7
Y by
Let the center of the excircle be $ I $ and the feet of the perpendiculars from $ I $ (or tangency points) to $ AB $ and $ AC $ be $ X $ and $ Y $ respectively.
And let $ \angle BAC = 2a,   \angle ABC = 2b,  \angle ACB = 2c $ and $|DI|=r$.
(Note that $a+b+c=90^\circ$, and $\angle BIX = b$ and $\angle CIY = c$ .)
Finally, we can start the proof.

We need to prove:
$\frac{|BC|^2}{|DE|^2} \ge \frac{|AD|}{|AE|}= \frac{|AD||AE|}{|AE|^2}= \frac{|AX|^2}{|AE|^2}$ which is obviously equivalent to $\frac{|AX|}{|AE|} \le \frac{|BC|}{|DE|}$.

And:
$\frac{|AX|}{|AE|} \le \frac{|BC|}{|DE|}= \frac{|BX|+|CY|}{|DE|} =\frac{r\tan(b)+r\tan(c)}{2r}=\frac{\tan(b)+\tan(c)}{2}=\frac{\sin(b+c)}{2\cos(b)\cos(c)}$

Also $|AX|=|AI|\cos(a)=|AI|\sin(b+c)$

So we should prove:

$\frac{|AI|\sin(b+c)}{|AE|} \le \frac{\sin(b+c)}{2\cos(b)\cos(c)}$

$\Leftrightarrow 2\cos(b)\cos(c) \le \frac{|AE|}{|AI|}=\frac{|AI|+|IE|}{|AI|}=1+ \frac{r}{|AI|}=1+ \sin(a)= 1+ \cos(b+c)$

$\Leftrightarrow 1 \ge 2\cos(b)\cos(c)-\cos(b+c)=\cos(b-c)$, which is always true, so we are done.

Equality occurs if and only if we have $b-c=0$, meaning $|AB|=|AC|$ .
This post has been edited 1 time. Last edited by dnztnc, Jul 24, 2022, 9:56 PM
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charme7269
7 posts
#8
Y by
Let the $A$-excircle touch $AB$ at $X$ and let $|I_AX| = r_a$, where $I_A$ is the $A$-excenter. Note that since the line $AE$ bisects $\angle BAC$, $I_A$ lies on $AE$. Also, we have $|AX| = s$, where $s$ is the semiperimeter of $\triangle ABC$. Lastly, call $|BC| = a$.
Now, $|AD| = \sqrt{s^2 + r_a^2} - r_a$, $|AE| = \sqrt{s^2 + r_a^2} + r_a$, $|BC| = a$ and $|DE| = 2r_a$. The requested inequality reduces then to showing that
$$\dfrac{\sqrt{s^2 + r_a^2} - r_a}{\sqrt{s^2 + r_a^2} + r_a} \leq \dfrac{a^2}{4r_a^2} \Longleftrightarrow (4r_a^2-a^2)^2(s^2+r_a^2) \leq r_a^2(4r_a^2+a^2)^2 \Longleftrightarrow 4r_a^2(s-a) \leq a^2s$$which since $(s-a)r_a = sr$ ($r$ is the inradius of $\triangle ABC$) simplifies to
$$ 4r_ar \leq a^2 $$Finally, as $r_ar = \dfrac{S}{s-a} \cdot \dfrac{S}{s} = (s-b)(s-c)$ ($S$ is the area of $\triangle ABC$),
$$ 4(s-b)(s-c) \leq a^2 \Longleftrightarrow (2s-b-c)^2-4(s-b)(s-c) \geq 0 \Longleftrightarrow (c-b)^2 \geq 0 $$This finishes the proof.
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djmathman
7936 posts
#9
Y by
This problem is a bit of a ruse: it presents itself as a triangle problem but isn't really about triangles. Sketch:

Fix the angle $A$ and the excircle $\omega_A$ (with center $I_A$ and radius $r_A$), and allow $B$ and $C$ to vary such that segment $\overline{BC}$ is tangent to $\omega_A$. Let $D$ be the tangency point. Then $\angle BI_AD$ and $\angle CI_AD$ are two acute angles which sum to the constant angle $\angle B_IAC = \tfrac{90^\circ + \angle A}2$, so by Jensen's Inequality $BC = r_A(\tan \angle BI_AD + \angle CI_AD)$ is minimized when both angles are equal to each other. This occurs when triangle $BAC$ is isosceles.

It suffices to show that $BC^2 = DE^2 \cdot\tfrac{AD}{AE}$ in the case where triangle $ABC$ is isosceles, which BarisKoyuncu does in post #4.
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mihaig
7339 posts
#10
Y by
Great solutions
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N Quick Reply
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