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Difficulty: 4/102020 IOQM 2020 (Q9)

Let be a triangle with . The internal angle bisector of intersects the side at . Points and are taken on sides and , respectively, such that and . If where and are relatively prime positive integers, then what is the sum of the digits of ?

Guide / Hint

Hint 1: Use the Angle Bisector Theorem to find the segment lengths and .

Hint 2: Observe that is a rhombus since , , and .

Hint 3: Find using the Law of Cosines on the main triangle , then apply the Law of Cosines on to find .

Solution

Step 1: By the Angle Bisector Theorem, divides in the ratio of the adjacent sides:

Since , we have and .

Step 2: In the quadrilateral , and , so is a parallelogram. Using similar triangles and :

Since , the parallelogram is actually a rhombus, and .

Step 3: Use the Law of Cosines on to find :

Step 4: In , use the Law of Cosines to find :

Here, and , which are relatively prime.

Step 5: Calculate and the sum of its digits:

The sum of the digits of is .

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