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Exercise 1989Geometry › Plane geometryOlympiadAdded 5 Nov 2026

Trigonometric Ceva and a hidden isosceles triangle

#trigonometric Ceva#angle chasing#monotonicity

Statement

Let PP be a point inside triangle ABCABC such that
∠BAP=10∘,∠PAC=40∘,∠ABP=20∘,∠ACP=30∘.\angle BAP=10^\circ,\quad\angle PAC=40^\circ,\quad\angle ABP=20^\circ,\quad\angle ACP=30^\circ.
Prove that triangle ABCABC is isosceles and find its angles.

Hint

Let x=∠PBCx=\angle PBC and y=∠PCBy=\angle PCB. The angle sum gives x+yx+y. Then use the trigonometric form of Ceva's theorem, and show that the resulting equation in xx has only one solution.

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Solution

Angle sum. ∠A=50∘\angle A=50^\circ, ∠B=20∘+x\angle B=20^\circ+x, ∠C=30∘+y\angle C=30^\circ+y. The sum is 180∘180^\circ, so x+y=80∘x+y=80^\circ, i.e. y=80∘−xy=80^\circ-x.

Trigonometric Ceva.
sin⁡∠BAP⋅sin⁡∠CBP⋅sin⁡∠ACP=sin⁡∠PAC⋅sin⁡∠PBA⋅sin⁡∠PCB.\sin\angle BAP\cdot\sin\angle CBP\cdot\sin\angle ACP=\sin\angle PAC\cdot\sin\angle PBA\cdot\sin\angle PCB.
Here this reads
sin⁡10∘sin⁡xsin⁡30∘=sin⁡40∘sin⁡20∘sin⁡(80∘−x),i.e.sin⁡xsin⁡(80∘−x)=sin⁡40∘sin⁡20∘sin⁡10∘sin⁡30∘.\sin10^\circ\sin x\sin30^\circ=\sin40^\circ\sin20^\circ\sin(80^\circ-x),\quad\text{i.e.}\quad\frac{\sin x}{\sin(80^\circ-x)}=\frac{\sin40^\circ\sin20^\circ}{\sin10^\circ\sin30^\circ}.

Uniqueness. On (0∘,80∘)(0^\circ,80^\circ) the function x↦sin⁡xsin⁡(80∘−x)x\mapsto\frac{\sin x}{\sin(80^\circ-x)} is strictly increasing, so there is at most one solution.

The solution is x=60∘x=60^\circ. Using 2sin⁡20∘sin⁡40∘=cos⁡20∘−cos⁡60∘=cos⁡20∘−122\sin20^\circ\sin40^\circ=\cos20^\circ-\cos60^\circ=\cos20^\circ-\frac12 and sin⁡40∘−sin⁡20∘=2cos⁡30∘sin⁡10∘\sin40^\circ-\sin20^\circ=2\cos30^\circ\sin10^\circ, one verifies the equality. Hence x=60∘x=60^\circ is the unique solution.

Conclusion. x=60∘x=60^\circ, y=20∘y=20^\circ, so
∠A=50∘,∠B=80∘,∠C=50∘.\angle A=50^\circ,\quad\angle B=80^\circ,\quad\angle C=50^\circ.
Since ∠A=∠C\angle A=\angle C, we have BA=BCBA=BC.

Lesson. Trigonometric Ceva converts a cevian configuration into one trigonometric equation; monotonicity then shows that a guessed solution is the only one.