Maths Olympiad Prep

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, 2011

Geometry Difficulty 4.4 AIME Prove it South Africa

An altitude from AA to the triangle ABCABC intersects the side BCBC in DD. A circle touches BCBC in DD, intersects ABAB in MM and NN and intersects ACAC in PP and QQ. Prove that
AM+ANAC=AP+AQAB. \frac{AM + AN}{AC} = \frac{AP + AQ}{AB}.

Solution

Let P(X)P(X) denote the power of point XX with respect to the circle M,N,DM, N, D. Then
AB(AM+AN)=ABAM+ABAN=(AN+NB)AM+AB(ABBN)=ANAM+BNAM+AB2ABBN=P(A)+AD2+BD2BN(ABAM)=P(A)+AD2+P(B)BNBM=P(A)+AD2+P(B)P(B)=P(A)+AD2. \begin{align*} AB(AM + AN) &= AB \cdot AM + AB \cdot AN \\ &= (AN + NB)AM + AB(AB - BN) \\ &= AN \cdot AM + BN \cdot AM + AB^2 - AB \cdot BN \\ &= P(A) + AD^2 + BD^2 - BN(AB - AM) \\ &= P(A) + AD^2 + P(B) - BN \cdot BM \\ &= P(A) + AD^2 + P(B) - P(B) \\ &= P(A) + AD^2. \end{align*}
A similar argument shows that AC(AP+AQ)=P(A)+AD2AC(AP + AQ) = P(A) + AD^2, which concludes the proof.

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