Maths Olympiad Prep

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Geometry Difficulty 5.0 AIME, harder Prove it JBMO

Problem:

Figure 1

Let ABAB and CDCD be chords in a circle of center OO with A,B,C,DA, B, C, D distinct, and let the lines ABAB and CDCD meet at a right angle at point EE. Let also MM and NN be the midpoints of ACAC and BDBD respectively. If MNOEMN \perp OE, prove that ADBCAD \parallel BC.

Solution

Solution:

EE can be inside, or outside the circle (Figure 3) but the proof below holds in both cases; notice that EE cannot be on the circle as A,B,C,DA, B, C, D are distinct. Let lines ACAC and NENE meet at point PP. Then EN=DN=BNEN = DN = BN (median in a right triangle), so PEC=NED=NDE=BDC=BAC=EAP\angle PEC = \angle NED = \angle NDE = \angle BDC = \angle BAC = \angle EAP. Now ABCDAB \perp CD so ENACEN \perp AC. But OMACOM \perp AC so OMENOM \parallel EN. Similarly ONEMON \parallel EM so NEMONEMO is a parallelogram (possibly degenerated). As MNOEMN \perp OE, this parallelogram is a rhombus. Then the chords ACAC and BDBD, being equidistant from OO, are equal. Hence their minor arcs are equal, which means that either ADBCAD \parallel BC or ABCDAB \parallel CD; the latter contradicts the fact that ABAB and CDCD meet at EE.

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