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IRL ABooklet

Geometry Difficulty 7.6 National Olympiad, round 2 Prove it Ireland

Consider triangle ABCABC with ∣AB∣<∣AC∣<∣BC∣|AB| < |AC| < |BC|, and let II be its incentre. The incircle of △ABC\triangle ABC touches sides BCBC and ACAC at points DD and EE, respectively. Let RR denote the midpoint of side ACAC. The point NN lies on the segment DEDE such that ∣RE∣=∣RN∣|RE| = |RN|. Let QQ be the midpoint of segment NDND. The lines ANAN and RQRQ intersect at point PP. Prove that the points I,N,P,QI, N, P, Q lie on the same circle.

Solution

Note that ∣CD∣=∣CE∣|CD| = |CE| and ∣RN∣=∣RE∣|RN| = |RE|. Hence, triangles △ENR\triangle ENR and △EDC\triangle EDC which share an angle at EE, are both isosceles and hence similar. In particular, RN∥CBRN \parallel CB and
∠CDE=∠CED=∠ENR=90∘−12∠C. \angle CDE = \angle CED = \angle ENR = 90^\circ - \frac{1}{2}\angle C.

Figure 1

a.

Solution 1. Let N′N' be the intersection of BIBI and DEDE. Then
180∘−∠IN′E=∠BN′D=∠CDE−∠CBI=90∘−12∠C−12∠B=12∠A=∠IAE \begin{aligned} 180^\circ - \angle IN'E &= \angle BN'D = \angle CDE - \angle CBI = 90^\circ - \frac{1}{2}\angle C - \frac{1}{2}\angle B \\ &= \frac{1}{2}\angle A = \angle IAE \end{aligned}
hence AIN′EAIN'E is cyclic and we have ∠IN′A=∠IEA=90∘\angle IN'A = \angle IEA = 90^\circ.

Figure 2
Let AN′AN' extended meet BCBC at K′K'. Then, in △BAK′\triangle BAK', BN′BN' is both, angle bisector and altitude, which implies that △BAK′\triangle BAK' is isosceles and N′N' is the midpoint of AK′AK'. Hence RN′∥CK′RN' \parallel CK' (midline) and so △EN′R∼△EDC\triangle EN'R \sim \triangle EDC. Because ∣CD∣=∣CE∣|CD| = |CE| we therefore also have ∣RE∣=∣RN′∣|RE| = |RN'|, hence N′=NN' = N.

Solution 2. Let KK be the intersection of ANAN with BCBC. Then RNRN is the midline of △AKC\triangle AKC, so NN is the midpoint of AKAK, and ∣RE∣=∣RN∣=12∣CK∣|RE| = |RN| = \frac{1}{2}|CK|. Since
a=∣BC∣=∣BD∣+∣CE∣, b=∣CA∣=∣AE∣+∣CE∣, c=∣AB∣=∣AE∣+∣BD∣ a = |BC| = |BD| + |CE|, \ b = |CA| = |AE| + |CE|, \ c = |AB| = |AE| + |BD|

Figure 3

∣AE∣=b+c−a2and |AE| = \frac{b+c-a}{2} \quad \text{and}
∣RE∣=∣RA∣−∣AE∣=b2−b+c−a2=a−c2. |RE| = |RA| - |AE| = \frac{b}{2} - \frac{b+c-a}{2} = \frac{a-c}{2}.

Hence, ∣CK∣=a−c|CK| = a - c and so ∣BK∣=c|BK| = c. This shows that △BAK\triangle BAK is isosceles and BNBN is a median of it, hence BNBN is also an angle bisector and thus passes through the incentre II, and BNBN is an altitude so that ∠BNA=90∘\angle BNA = 90^{\circ}.

b.

Solution 1. Extend RQRQ to meet BCBC at MM. Since NR∥MDNR \parallel MD and ∣NQ∣=∣QD∣|NQ| = |QD|, we see that △QNR≡△QDM\triangle QNR \equiv \triangle QDM. This implies that QQ is the midpoint of RMRM and ∣DM∣=∣RN∣=∣RE∣|DM| = |RN| = |RE|.
Figure 4
Because we also have ∣ID∣=∣IE∣|ID| = |IE| and ∠IDM=∠IER=90∘\angle IDM = \angle IER = 90^{\circ}, we now get △IDM≡△IER\triangle IDM \equiv \triangle IER, hence ∣IR∣=∣IM∣|IR| = |IM|. This implies that the median IQIQ in the isosceles triangle △IRM\triangle IRM is also a perpendicular bisector, i.e. IQ⊥RMIQ \perp RM. Note that this proof, which is independent of (a), does not require RR to be the midpoint of ACAC.

Solution 2. Note that △IDN\triangle IDN is similar to △ICA\triangle ICA since
∠IND=12∠A=∠IACand \angle IND = \frac{1}{2}\angle A = \angle IAC \quad \text{and}
∠IDN=90∘−∠EDC=12∠C=∠ICA. \angle IDN = 90^{\circ} - \angle EDC = \frac{1}{2}\angle C = \angle ICA.
Since QQ is the midpoint of DNDN and RR the midpoint of CACA it follows that △IQN∼△IRA\triangle IQN \sim \triangle IRA, in spiral symmetry and hence also △IQR∼△INA\triangle IQR \sim \triangle INA. Using part (a), it now follows that ∠IQR=∠INA=90∘\angle IQR = \angle INA = 90^{\circ}.

Solution 3. Let SS on IQIQ extended be such that QQ is the midpoint of ISIS. Then IDSNIDSN is a parallelogram (diagonals bisect each other) and ∣SN∣=∣DI∣|SN| = |DI|, as well as SN∥DI⊥BC∥NRSN \parallel DI \perp BC \parallel NR.
Figure 5
By SAS we now obtain △SNR≡△IER\triangle SNR \equiv \triangle IER, thus ∣RS∣=∣RI∣|RS| = |RI|. In isosceles triangle △IRS\triangle IRS, RQRQ is a median, hence also a perpendicular bisector, thus ∠RQI=90∘\angle RQI = 90^\circ.

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