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Geometry Difficulty 8.2 Shortlist Prove it Turkey

In triangle ABCABC, the incenter is II and the incircle touches the sides BC,AC,ABBC, AC, AB at D,E,FD, E, F, respectively. For a line \ell passing through II, the feet of the perpendiculars dropped from A,B,CA, B, C onto \ell are X,Y,ZX, Y, Z respectively. Show that the lines DX,EY,FZDX, EY, FZ are concurrent.

Solutions — 2

Solution 1

In the solution, we use directed lengths. Let \ell intersect EFEF, DFDF, DEDE at KK, LL, MM respectively and let IX=xIX = x, IY=yIY = y and IZ=zIZ = z; hence IK=r2/xIK = r^2/x, IL=r2/yIL = r^2/y and IM=r2/zIM = r^2/z where rr is the radius of the incircle. Consequently we have
(1)MXLXKYMYLZKZ=r2/zxr2/yxr2/xyr2/zyr2/yzr2/xz=1. (1) \quad \frac{MX}{LX} \cdot \frac{KY}{MY} \cdot \frac{LZ}{KZ} = \frac{r^2/z - x}{r^2/y - x} \cdot \frac{r^2/x - y}{r^2/z - y} \cdot \frac{r^2/y - z}{r^2/x - z} = 1.
Now let the lines DXDX, EYEY, FZFZ intersect EFEF, DFDF, DEDE at XX', YY', ZZ' respectively; hence the lines DEDE, DFDF, DXDX, DKDK intersect EFEF at

EE, FF, XX', KK respectively and intersect \ell at MM, LL, XX, KK respectively, thus we have an equality of cross-ratios
(E,F;X,K)=(DE,DF;DX,DK)=(M,L;X,K),that is, (E, F; X', K) = (DE, DF; DX', DK) = (M, L; X, K), \quad \text{that is,}
EX/FXEK/FK=MX/LXMK/LK. \frac{EX'/FX'}{EK/FK} = \frac{MX/LX}{MK/LK}.
Multiplying the last equality with the analogous equalities
FY/DYFL/DL=KY/MYKL/MLandDZ/EZDM/EM=LZ/KZLM/KM \frac{FY'/DY'}{FL/DL} = \frac{KY/MY}{KL/ML} \quad \text{and} \quad \frac{DZ'/EZ'}{DM/EM} = \frac{LZ/KZ}{LM/KM}
and rearranging, one finds
EXFXFYDYDZEZ=(EKFKFLDLDMEM)(LKMKMLKLKMLM)(MXLXKYMYLZKZ)=1(1)1=1, \frac{EX'}{FX'} \cdot \frac{FY'}{DY'} \cdot \frac{DZ'}{EZ'} = \left(\frac{EK}{FK} \cdot \frac{FL}{DL} \cdot \frac{DM}{EM}\right) \cdot \left(\frac{LK}{MK} \cdot \frac{ML}{KL} \cdot \frac{KM}{LM}\right) \cdot \left(\frac{MX}{LX} \cdot \frac{KY}{MY} \cdot \frac{LZ}{KZ}\right) = 1 \cdot (-1) \cdot 1 = -1,
where we used Menelaus' theorem in triangle DEFDEF with line \ell and we used (1). Therefore, we conclude by Ceva's theorem in triangle DEFDEF that the lines DXDX', EYEY', FZFZ' are concurrent. Done.

Solution 2

Let DD', EE', FF' denote the reflections of DD, EE, FF in the line \ell. Now XX, EE, FF are on the circle with diameter [IA][IA], hence XEF=XIF\angle XEF = \angle XIF. On the other hand, XIF\angle XIF is the central angle of an arc of the incircle which measures half of the arc F’F\text{F'F}, hence XIF=FEF\angle XIF = \angle F'EF. As a result, XEF=FEF\angle XEF = \angle F'EF which implies that XEFX \in EF'. Analogously, XEFX \in E'F, YDFY \in DF', YDFY \in D'F, ZDEZ \in DE' and ZDEZ \in D'E. Now let TT denote the intersection of EFEF and EFE'F'; by symmetry, we have TT \in \ell. As a result, the points
F=DYXE,E=DZXF,T=YZEF F' = DY \cap XE, \quad E' = DZ \cap XF, \quad T = YZ \cap EF
are collinear, which implies that the triangles DYZDYZ and XEFXEF are perspective, hence the lines DXDX, EYEY, FZFZ are concurrent (Desargues' theorem).

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