Let be a right triangle with . Point lies on the line such that is between and . Let be the midpoint of and let be the second intersection point of the circumcircle of and the circumcircle of . Prove that as varies, the line passes through a fixed point.
Solutions — 2
Solution 1
Let the line intersect the line at and the circumcircle of at distinct from . We will prove that is the fixed point.
First, notice that is isosceles with . This implies .
Then, which implies . Hence, is an isosceles trapezoid.
Also, and . This implies and .
Since is the foot of the perpendicular from onto the side of the isosceles trapezoid , we have , which does not depend on the choice of . Hence, the initial statement is proven.
Solution 2
Set up a coordinate system where is along the positive -axis, is along the positive -axis, and is the origin. Take , , , where . Then . The general equation of a circle is
Substituting the coordinates of into (1) and solving for , we find that the equation of the circumcircle of is
Similarly, the equation of the circumcircle of is
Then (3)-(2) gives the equation of the line which is
Solving (3) and (4) simultaneously, we get
and the other solution .
From this we obtain the equation of the line which is . It passes through which is independent of .