Computational Geometry AwesomeMath Summer Program 2025

Computational Geometry
Last update: July 3, 2025

1 Ptolemy’s and Erdös-Mordell I

1.1 Lecture Problems

Ptolemy’s theorem.
Given any four points A, B, C, D in the plane,

h
AB · CD + BC · DA ≥ AC · BD,
with equality if and only if ABCD is a cyclic quadrilateral with diagonals AC and BD.

at
Erdos Mordell inequality. If from a point P inside a given triangle ABC perpendiculars P D, P E, P F
are drawn to its sides, then P A + P B + P C ≥ 2(P D + P E + P F ). Equality holds if and only if triangle
ABC is equilateral.

eM
This was conjectured by Paul Erdos in 1935, and for the first time proved by Louis Mordell in the same
year. Several proofs of this inequality have been given, using Ptolemy’s, angular computations with similar
triangles, area inequality or using trigonometry (by Mordell). We are going to solve it by using Ptolemy’s
theorem.

Carnot’s Theorem. In an acute triangle ABC, the sum of distances from the circumcenter O to the sides
om
is R + r, the sum of the circumradius and the inradius.
Exercise: Prove analogous result for obtuse triangle ABC.

Corollary (Euler’s Inequality) In a triangle ABC with circumradius R and inradius r, we have that
R ≥ 2r.

Corollary (IMO 1991) Given a point P inside the triangle ABC, prove that at least one of the angles
es

∠P AB, ∠P BC, ∠P CA is less than or equal to 30◦ .

Aw

1
Computational Geometry AwesomeMath Summer Program 2025

1.2 Problems
Problem 1: (Pompeiu’s theorem). Let P be a point on the arc BC of the circumcircle of an equilateral triangle
ABC that does not contain the vertex A. Prove that P A = P B + P C.

Problem 2: Corollary (USA TST 2000) Let P be a point in the interior of triangle ABC with circumradius R.
Prove that
AP BP CP 1
+ 2 + 2 ≥
a2 b c R
Problem 3: Let P be a point inside the triangle ABC and denote by pa , pb , pc the distances from P to the sides
BC, AC and AB respectively. Prove that
R

h
PA · PB · PC ≥ (pa + pb )(pb + pc )(pc + pa ).
2r
Hint: Use Pappus’s Theorem

at
Problem 4: Point P is chosen on the arc CD of the circumcircle of a square ABCD. Prove that
√
P A + P C = 2P B.

Problem 5: Let ABCDEF G be a regular heptagon. Prove that

Conclude that
eM 1
1
AB

sin π7
=

=
1
AC
+

1
1
AD

sin 2π

Problem 6: Let ABCD be a convex quadrilateral. Prove that

7
.

+
sin
1
3π .
7
om
(AC · BD)2 = (AB · CD)2 + (AD · BC)2 − 2(AB · CD) · (AD · BC) · cos(∠A + ∠C).

Problem 7: Prove that for any positive reals a, b, c the following inequality holds
p p p
a b2 − bc + c2 + c a2 − ab + b2 ≥ b a2 + ac + c2 .

Problem 8: Let ABCDEF√G be a regular heptagon with side 1. Let P be a point of intersection of diagonals BF
and CG. Prove that P D = 2.
es

Problem 9: A quadrilateral (not necessarily convex!) is inscribed in a circle. One side is a diameter of the circle
and the other sides have lengths of a, b and c. Prove that the length x of the diameter satisfies equation

x3 − (a2 + b2 + c2 )x − 2abc = 0.
Aw

Problem 10: Let A, B, C, D be points in the space. Prove that

AB · CD + AD · BC ≥ AC · BD.

Problem 11: Let O be the circumcenter of an acute-angled triangle ABC. A line passing through O and parallel
to BC meets AB and AC in points P and Q respectively. The sum of distances from O to AB and AC is equal to
OA. Prove that P B + QC = P Q.

Problem 12: Let P be a point in parallelogram ABCD, prove that

P A · P C + P B · P D ≥ AB · BC.

Problem 13: In triangle ABC let BB 0 and CC 0 be the angle bisectors of B and C. Prove that
 
0 0 2bc A a
BC ≥ (a + b + c) sin − .
(a + b)(a + c) 2 2

2
Computational Geometry AwesomeMath Summer Program 2025

Problem 14: Given a parallelogram ABCD. A circle passing through A meets the line segments AB, AC and AD
at inner points M, K, N , respectively. Prove that

AB · AM + AD · AN = AK · AC

Problem 15: Let A1 A2 . . . An be a regular polygon that has an odd number of sides. Let M be a point on the
minor arc A1 An of the circle circumscribed about it. Prove that the sum of the distances from the point M to the
vertices Ai (i being odd) is equal to the sum of the distances from the point M to the vertices Ak (k being even).

Problem 16: Let ABCT be a cyclic quadrilateral. Let P and Q be points on the sides BA and BC respectively,
such that BP T Q is a parallelogram. Then

BP · BA + BQ · BC = BT 2 .

h
Problem 17: (Adapted from IMO 2001) Let a > b > c > d be positive integers such that

a2 − ac + c2 = b2 + bd + d2 .

at
Prove that ab + cd is not prime.

Problem 18: Let ha , hb , hc be the lengths of the altitudes of a triangle ABC from A, B, C respectively. Let P be
any point inside the triangle. Prove that that
PA PB PC

eM hb + hc
+
ha + hc

Problem 20: Let ABCD be a cyclic quadrilateral. Prove that

+
ha + hb
≥ 1.

Problem 19: Let h be the length of the longest height of an acute-angled triangle ABC. Prove that R + r ≤ h.

AC · rBCD · rDAB = BD · rCDA · rABC .

Problem 21: Let ABC be an equilateral triangle and let P be a point on its circumcircle. Find all positive integers
om
n such that P An + P B n + P C n does not depend upon P .

Problem 22: Let ABC be a equilateral triangle with A-excircle Ω. Assume Ω is tangent to BC, CA and AB at X,
Y, Z respectively. Let P be any point on the arc Y Z of Ω which does not contain X. Prove that
p p √ p
[ABP ] + [BCP ] = 3 [ACP ].

Problem 23: Let P be any point on the incircle of triangle ABC, x, y, z its distances to the sides BC, AC, and
es

AB, respectively. Prove that

√ ∠A √ ∠B √ ∠C
x cos = y cos + z cos .
2 2 2
Problem 24: (IMO 1995) Let ABCDEF be a convex hexagon with AB = BC = CD and DE = EF = F A,
Aw

such that ∠BCD = ∠EF A = 60◦ . Suppose G and H are points in the interior of the hexagon such that ∠AGB =
∠DHE = 120◦ . Prove that
AG + GB + GH + DH + HE ≥ CF.

Problem 25: The lengths of the sides of a convex quadrilateral are, in order a, b, c and d. Prove that

2[ABCD] ≤ ac + bd.

Problem 26: Let ABCD be a cyclic convex quadrilateral such that

∠DCA = 2∠BAC and ∠BCA = 2∠DAC.

Prove that BC + CD = AC.

Problem 27: Let ABC be a triangle with BC = a, CA = b, AB = c. Let ma , mb , mc be the lengths of the medians
drawn to the sides BC, CA and AB, respectively. Prove that

ma (bc − a2 ) + mb (ca − b2 ) + mc (ab − c2 ) ≥ 0.