Maths Olympiad Prep

Library / /11 of 42

Geometry Difficulty 5.5 AIME, harder Prove it Romania

Let ABCDABCD be a square, MM be the midpoint of the side ADAD, TT be the common point of the lines BMBM and CDCD, and CPBMCP \perp BM, PMBP \in MB. The perpendicular line from AA to APAP intersects the line BMBM in QQ. Prove that:

a) APQ=PCQ=45\angle APQ = \angle PCQ = 45^\circ;

b) PQ=QT=PCPQ = QT = PC.

Solution

a) Let FF be the intersection of the lines CPCP and ABAB and EE be the foot of the perpendicular from AA to BMBM.
Figure 1
Since FCB=MBA=90CBM\angle FCB = \angle MBA = 90^\circ - \angle CBM and CB=BACB = BA, the right triangles CBFCBF and BAMBAM are congruent, whence FB=MA=AB2FB = MA = \frac{AB}{2}, so FF is the midpoint of side ABAB.
We deduce that FPFP is a midsegment in the triangle AEBAEB, so BP=EPBP = EP and the congruence of the triangles CPBCPB and BEABEA yields PB=AEPB = AE and CP=BECP = BE.
The triangle EAPEAP is right and isosceles, so APE=45\angle APE = 45^\circ, thus the triangle APQAPQ is also an isosceles right triangle. Consequently, the altitude AEAE is also a median.
We obtain QP=2EP=EB=PCQP = 2EP = EB = PC, hence the triangle PCQPCQ is also an isosceles right triangle, from which follows that PCQ=45\angle PCQ = 45^\circ and CQAPCQ \parallel AP.

b) Since CD=CBCD = CB, DCP=CBE\angle DCP = \angle CBE and PC=EBPC = EB, the triangles DPCDPC and CEBCEB are congruent, whence DP=CE=CB=DADP = CE = CB = DA.
From the congruence of the triangles DEADEA and DEPDEP (SSS), it follows that ADE=PDE\angle ADE = \angle PDE, so DEDE is the supporting line of the bisector and the altitude in the isosceles triangle DAPDAP.
Since DEQCDE \perp QC, it follows that CQCQ is the perpendicular bisector of the side DEDE in the isosceles triangle CDECDE, thus QD=QE=QP2=PC2QD = QE = \frac{QP}{2} = \frac{PC}{2}.
Therefore DQDQ is a midsegment in the triangle TPCTPC, whence TQ=QP=2EP=EB=CPTQ = QP = 2EP = EB = CP.

Want a route through all this instead of an archive? The track puts 2,000 problems in a working order, from AMC 10 level to the IMO shortlist.

Source: MathNet, licensed CC-BY-4.0. Statement and solution reproduced as published; topic and difficulty added by this site.