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Vietnamese Mathematical Competitions

Geometry Difficulty 7.1 National Olympiad, round 2 Prove it Vietnam

Let ABCABC be the isosceles triangle with AB=ACAB = AC and M,NM,N are the midpoints of AB,ACAB, AC, respectively. The circle (K)(K) is tangent to line ABAB at BB and tangent to ACAC at CC. An arbitrary circle (I)(I) tangents to (K)(K), passes through AA and cuts the line MNMN at D,ED,E. Prove that:

a. Point II belongs to a fixed line and the angle ∠MAN\angle MAN is a constant.

b. The circle with diameter DEDE is always tangent to two certain fixed circles and has the center belongs to the line AKAK.

Solution

a. Suppose that two circles (I)(I) and (K)(K) tangent to each other at point TT, then
IK−IA=IK−IT=TKIK - IA = IK - IT = TK
which is a constant.
Hence, point II belongs to the hyperbola with two foci AA and KK, which are fixed points.
Next, we have to prove that the angle ∠MAN\angle MAN is constant.

Figure 1

We can see that MA=MBMA = MB, MA=MCMA = MC so M,NM,N are on the radical axis of degenerate circle (A)(A) and the circle (K)(K).
Hence, MNMN is the radical axis of these circles.
Note that D,ED,E belong to MNMN so based on the properties of radical axis of two circles, we obtain DA2=PD/(K)DA^2 = P_{D/(K)}, EA2=PE/(K)EA^2 = P_{E/(K)}.
Assume that xyxy is the inner common tangent line of two circles (I),(K)(I),(K). Let T′T' be the intersection of the line DCDC and the circle (K)(K).
We have PD/(K)=DT′⋅DCP_{D/(K)} = DT' \cdot DC so DA2=DT′⋅DC⇒△DAT′∼△DCADA^2 = DT' \cdot DC \Rightarrow \triangle DAT' \sim \triangle DCA (c.g.c).
Hence ∠DAT′=∠DCA=∠T′BC=∠CT′y=∠DT′x\angle DAT' = \angle DCA = \angle T'BC = \angle CT'y = \angle DT'x, so TxTx is the tangent line of the circle (O′)(O') or TT is the tangent point of two circles (K),(O′)(K),(O').
From this result, we have three points D,T,CD,T,C are collinear.
Similarly, we also have E,T,BE,T,B are collinear.
The quadrilateral ADTCADTC is inscribed so ∠DAE=180∘−∠DTE=180∘−∠BTC\angle DAE = 180^\circ - \angle DTE = 180^\circ - \angle BTC, which is a constant value (Q.E.D).

b. We will prove a generalization lemma for this part of the given problem.
Let (O)(O) be a fixed circle and two fixed distinct points A,BA,B on it, dd is a fixed line and not intersecting (O)(O). The point CC is moving on the circle (O)(O) and not coinciding with A,BA,B. Two rays AC,BCAC,BC intersect dd at D,ED,E, respectively. Prove that the circle with diameter DEDE is always tangent to two certain fixed circles when CC moves on (O)(O).
Indeed, let MM be the projection of point OO on the line dd and A′,B′A',B' are the symmetric points of A,BA,B about OMOM. Assume that AB′,A′BAB',A'B cut dd at F,GF,G, respectively. So F,GF,G are fixed.
Let X,YX,Y be two fixed points on the line OMOM such that MX2=MY2=FA⋅GBMX^2 = MY^2 = FA \cdot GB.
Based on the symmetrical properties, the point MM is the midpoint of the segment FGFG and GA′=FAGA' = FA, GB=FB′GB = FB', two lines AA′,BB′AA',BB' are parallel with the line dd. MF=MG=aMF = MG = a. We have ∠GBE=∠A′BC=∠A′AC=∠FDA\angle GBE = \angle A'BC = \angle A'AC = \angle FDA.

Figure 2

Similarly, ∠GEB=∠FAD\angle GEB = \angle FAD, then △GBE∼△FDA\triangle GBE \sim \triangle FDA (g.g). Hence,
GE⋅FD=GB⋅FA=MX2=MY2. GE \cdot FD = GB \cdot FA = MX^2 = MY^2.
Let D′,E′D', E' be points on the line dd such that MD′=FDMD' = FD, ME′=GEME' = GE (two pairs of points D,D′D, D' and E,E′E, E' are on the same side to point MM), then
MD′⋅ME′=MX2=MY2. MD' \cdot ME' = MX^2 = MY^2.
Based on the properties of power of point, we have the circle with diameter D′E′D'E' passes through two points X,YX, Y.
From DD′=EE′=aDD' = EE' = a, we can see that two circles with diameter DE,D′E′DE, D'E' share a common center. Then the circle with diameter DEDE is tangent to two circles with fixed centers X,YX, Y and radii aa.
This proof also completes the solution for the given part.

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