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Geometry Difficulty 5.3 AIME, harder Prove it Estonia

Let ABCABC be a triangle such that AB=ACAB = AC. Point KK lies on the altitude drawn from vertex AA and point LL is chosen on the line BKBK in such a way that ALBCAL \parallel BC. Prove that if KCCLKC \perp CL then point LL lies on the bisector of the external angle on vertex CC of triangle ABCABC.

Solutions — 3

Solution 1

As ALBCAL \parallel BC and AKBCAK \perp BC (Fig. 11), we have KAL=90\angle KAL = 90^\circ. As KALKAL and KCLKCL are both right angles, points AA and CC lie on circle with diameter KLKL. By inscribed angles, KCA=KLA\angle KCA = \angle KLA. On the other hand, KLA=KBC\angle KLA = \angle KBC and, by symmetry of isosceles triangle, KBC=KCB\angle KBC = \angle KCB. Consequently, KCA=KCB\angle KCA = \angle KCB, implying that KCKC bisects the internal angle on vertex CC of the triangle ABCABC. As KCLKCL is right angle, CLCL bisects the corresponding external angle.

Solution 2

The altitude drawn from the vertex angle of the isosceles triangle ABCABC is the perpendicular bisector of its base. All points of the perpendicular bisector of a line segment lie at equal distance from the endpoints of the line segment, implying that KB=KC|KB| = |KC|. As ALBCAL \parallel BC and AKBCAK \perp BC, we conclude AKALAK \perp AL.
Figure 1
Fig. 11
Let PP be a point on line BCBC such that CC is between BB and PP, and let lines CKCK and ALAL intersect at QQ (Fig. 12). As BKC=LKQ\angle BKC = \angle LKQ and KBC=KLQ\angle KBC = \angle KLQ, triangles KBCKBC and KLQKLQ are similar. Together with the equality KB=KC|KB| = |KC|, it implies KL=KQ|KL| = |KQ|. Thus KAKA is the altitude drawn from the vertex angle of the isosceles triangle KLQKLQ, implying also AL=AQ|AL| = |AQ|. Hence AA is the midpoint of the hypotenuse of the right triangle CLQCLQ, implying that AA is the center of the circumcircle of the triangle CLQCLQ. Consequently, AC=AL|AC| = |AL|, implying that ACL=ALC=LCP\angle ACL = \angle ALC = \angle LCP, i.e., CLCL bisects the external angle on vertex CC of the triangle ABCABC.
Figure 2
Fig. 12

Solution 3

When point KK moves along the altitude drawn from vertex AA of the triangle ABCABC farther from point AA, the angle KCBKCB decreases, while point LL also moves farther from point AA, causing the angle LCBLCB to increase. Thus the difference LCBKCB\angle LCB - \angle KCB also increases in this process and can equal 9090^\circ in the case of exactly one location of point KK. Hence it suffices to show that if LL lies at the bisector of the external angle on vertex CC of the triangle ABCABC then LCK=90\angle LCK = 90^\circ.
So let LL lie at the bisector of the external angle on vertex CC of the triangle ABCABC (Fig. 13). As ALBCAL \parallel BC and AKBCAK \perp BC, we have AKALAK \perp AL; as AKAK is the altitude drawn from the vertex angle of the triangle ABCABC, it bisects the vertex angle, whence also LL lies on the bisector of the external angle on vertex AA of the triangle ABCABC. Thus LL is the center of the excircle tangent to side ACAC of the triangle ABCABC and lies also on the bisector of the internal angle on vertex BB of the triangle ABCABC. Hence both AKAK and BKBK are angle bisectors, implying that KK is the intersection point of angle bisectors of the triangle ABCABC and CKCK is the bisector of the internal angle on vertex CC of the triangle ABCABC. Consequently, CKCK and CLCL are perpendicular.
Figure 3
Fig. 13

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