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Romania — NMO Selection Tests for the Balkan and International Mathematical Olympiads

Geometry Difficulty 8.3 Shortlist Prove it Romania

Let ABCABC be a triangle such that AB≠ACAB \neq AC, let GG be its centroid, and let HH be its orthocenter. Let DD be the orthogonal projection of AA on the line BCBC, and let MM be the midpoint of the side BCBC. The circle ABCABC crosses the ray MHMH emanating from MM at PP, and the ray DGDG emanating from DD at QQ, outside the segment DGDG. Show that the lines DPDP and MQMQ meet on the circle ABCABC.
BMO 2017 Shortlist

Solutions — 2

Solution 1

First solution. We show that the angles APDAPD and AQMAQM are either equal or one is the supplement of the other.
To begin, recall that the reflection of HH across MM is the antipode of AA in the circle ABCABC, to infer that the angle APMAPM is right, so AA, DD, MM, PP are concyclic. Hence the angles APDAPD and AMDAMD are either equal or one is the supplement of the other.
The circle ABCABC is the image of the nine-point circle under a homothety of scale factor −2-2 centred at GG. This homothety sends MM to AA and DD to QQ, so AQAQ and BCBC are parallel.
Hence ∠AMD=∠MAQ\angle AMD = \angle MAQ, on the one hand; and MA=MQMA = MQ, on the other, so ∠MAQ=∠AQM\angle MAQ = \angle AQM. Consequently, ∠AMD=∠AQM\angle AMD = \angle AQM, and the conclusion follows by the preceding paragraph.

Figure 1

Figure 2

Solution 2

Second solution. As in the previous solution, AA and QQ are reflections of one another in the perpendicular bisectrix of the segment BCBC.
Let the line MPMP cross the circle ABCABC again at P′P', and let the lines QP′QP' and BCBC cross at SS. Since P′P' is the antipode of AA in the circle ABCABC, the angle AQS=AQP′AQS = AQP' is right, so the lines QSQS and BCBC are perpendicular.
Let the line MQMQ cross the circle ABCABC again at Q′Q', let the lines PQ′PQ' and BCBC cross at RR, and refer to the butterfly theorem to infer that RR and SS are reflections of one another across MM.
The lines ARAR and QSQS are therefore reflections of one another in the perpendicular bisectrix of the segment BCBC.
Finally, since QSQS is perpendicular to BCBC, so is ARAR, and, consequently, the points RR and DD coincide. The conclusion follows.

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