IMO 1966 · Problem 6

In the interior of sides \(BC, CA, AB\) of triangle \(ABC\), any points \(K, L, M\), respectively, are selected. Prove that the area of at least one of the triangles \(AML, BKM, CLK\) is less than or equal to one quarter of the area of triangle \(ABC\).

Official text of the problem. Official problem paper (PDF)

Solution

Write \([XYZ]\) for the area of triangle \(XYZ\), and put \(S=[ABC]\). If \(S=0\), all the points are collinear and the assertion is immediate. Assume henceforth that \(S>0\).

Set \[ x=\frac{AM}{AB},\qquad y=\frac{BK}{BC},\qquad z=\frac{CL}{CA}. \] Since the selected points lie in the interiors of the sides, \(0<x,y,z<1\).

Using the area formula with the included angle at \(A\), we obtain \[ \frac{[AML]}{S} =\frac{\tfrac12 AM\cdot AL\sin\angle A} {\tfrac12 AB\cdot AC\sin\angle A} =x(1-z). \] The same calculation at \(B\) and \(C\) gives \[ \frac{[BKM]}{S}=y(1-x), \qquad \frac{[CLK]}{S}=z(1-y). \] Multiplying, \[ \frac{[AML][BKM][CLK]}{S^3} =x(1-x)y(1-y)z(1-z). \] For every real \(t\), \[ t(1-t)=\frac14-\left(t-\frac12\right)^2\le\frac14. \] Thus, since all the factors above are positive, \[ [AML][BKM][CLK]\le \frac{S^3}{64} =\left(\frac S4\right)^3. \] If all three areas were greater than \(S/4\), their product would be greater than \((S/4)^3\), a contradiction. Therefore at least one of them is at most one quarter of \([ABC]\), as required.

The bound is attained when \(K,L,M\) are the side midpoints: all three areas then equal \(S/4\).

The solution was checked against John Scholes' IMO solution archive (Kalva).