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Geometry Difficulty 5.3 AIME, harder Prove it Ireland

Two circles, centres O1O_1 and O2O_2, intersect at AA and BB. Let O1C1O_1C_1 and O2C2O_2C_2 be parallel radii of these circles such that C1C_1 and C2C_2 are on the same side of O1O2O_1O_2. Prove that the circumcircles of triangles C1AC2C_1AC_2 and C1BC2C_1BC_2 have the same radius.

Solution

Let D1D_1 and D2D_2 be points on the circles such that C1D1C_1D_1 and C2D2C_2D_2 are diameters. We want to show that the reflection in the line C1C2C_1C_2 of the circumcircle of C1BC2\triangle C_1BC_2 is the circumcircle of C1AC2\triangle C_1AC_2. Equivalently we can show that the reflection of BB in the line C1C2C_1C_2 is on the circumcircle of C1AC2\triangle C_1AC_2, which is equivalent to
C1BC2=180C1AC2. \angle C_1BC_2 = 180^\circ - \angle C_1AC_2.
Instead of using reflection in the line C1C2C_1C_2, we could also argue with the extended Sine-Rule, which tells us that the circumradius of C1AC2\triangle C_1AC_2 is equal to C1C2/2sin(C1AC2)|C_1C_2|/2 \sin(\angle C_1AC_2) and the circumradius of C1BC2\triangle C_1BC_2 is equal to C1C2/2sin(C1BC2)|C_1C_2|/2 \sin(\angle C_1BC_2). We then see that these circles have the same radius if sin(C1AC2)=sin(C1BC2)\sin(\angle C_1AC_2) = \sin(\angle C_1BC_2), which follows when we have shown C1BC2=180C1AC2\angle C_1BC_2 = 180^\circ - \angle C_1AC_2.

C1AC2=C1D1B+BD2C2. \angle C_1AC_2 = \angle C_1D_1B + \angle BD_2C_2.
As C1D1C_1D_1 and C2D2C_2D_2 are parallel, C1D1D2+D1D2C2=180\angle C_1D_1D_2 + \angle D_1D_2C_2 = 180^\circ. Using the previously obtained equation this yields
C1AC2=C1D1B+BD2C2=180(BD1D2+D1D2B)=D1BD2. \begin{aligned} \angle C_1AC_2 &= \angle C_1D_1B + \angle BD_2C_2 = 180^\circ - (\angle BD_1D_2 + \angle D_1D_2B) \\ &= \angle D_1BD_2. \end{aligned}
Since C1D1C_1D_1 and C2D2C_2D_2 are diameters, C1BD1=90=C2BD2\angle C_1BD_1 = 90^\circ = \angle C_2BD_2 and we finally obtain C1BC2=180D1BD2=180C1AC2\angle C_1BC_2 = 180^\circ - \angle D_1BD_2 = 180^\circ - \angle C_1AC_2, as desired.

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Source: MathNet, licensed CC-BY-4.0. Statement reproduced verbatim; metadata (topic, difficulty) added by this project.