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Geometry Difficulty 8.0 National olympiad, round 2 Prove it Romania

Let ABCDABCD be a convex quadrangle and let PP and QQ be variable points inside this quadrangle so that APB=CPD=AQB=CQD\angle APB = \angle CPD = \angle AQB = \angle CQD. Prove that the lines PQPQ obtained in this way all pass through a fixed point, or they are all parallel.

Solution

By the condition in the statement, the points AA, BB, PP, and QQ lie on some circle ω1\omega_1, and the points CC, DD, PP, and QQ lie on some circle ω2\omega_2. The line PQPQ is the radical axis of these two circles, and we proceed to prove that MM lies on this radical axis.
Let MAMA meet ω1\omega_1 again at AA', and let MDMD meet ω2\omega_2 again at DD'; if, say, MAMA is tangent to ω1\omega_1, then A=AA' = A. Then (MA,AB)=(AA,AB)=(AP,PB)=(CP,PD)=(CD,DD)=(CD,DM)\angle(MA', A'B) = \angle(AA', A'B) = \angle(AP, PB) = \angle(CP, PD) = \angle(CD', D'D) = \angle(CD', D'M), and
(MA,MB)=(MA,MB)=(MA,MC)+(MC,MB)=(MB,MD)+(MC,MB)=(MC,MD)=(MC,MD), \begin{align*} \angle(MA', MB) &= \angle(MA, MB) = \angle(MA, MC) + \angle(MC, MB) \\ &= \angle(MB, MD) + \angle(MC, MB) = \angle(MC, MD) \\ &= \angle(MC, MD'), \end{align*}
showing that the triangles MABMA'B and MDCMD'C are similar and have opposite orientations. Hence MA/MD=MB/MC=MD/MAMA'/MD' = MB/MC = MD/MA, so MAMA=MDMDMA \cdot MA' = MD \cdot MD'.

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Figure 1

We still have to decide whether such a point MM exists, and deal with the exceptional cases. This can be done in several different ways, e.g., by investigating the orientation-changing similarity transformation mapping AA to DD and BB to CC. We present a more geometrical proof.
Let the diagonals ACAC and BDBD cross at KK. Choose points FF, on the diagonal ACAC, and GG, on the diagonal BDBD, so that the configurations (A,F,K,C)(A, F, K, C) and (D,K,G,B)(D, K, G, B) are similar.
If ADAD and BCBC are not parallel, then FKGF \neq K \neq G. By similarity, it is sufficient to find the point MM such that the triangles MKFMKF and MGKMGK are similar and have opposite orientations. If KFKGKF \neq KG, one may choose MM to be the point where FGFG crosses the tangent at KK to the circle FGKFGK.
The exceptional cases are ADBCAD \parallel BC and KF=KGKF = KG (in which case AC=BDAC = BD by similarity). These cases may be considered as limit cases: in the former case, MM tends to KK and this can be dealt with along the above lines; in the latter, MM becomes an ideal point, so the lines PQPQ are all parallel. In fact, both cases can be dealt with independently and are relatively easy.

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Source: MathNet, licensed CC-BY-4.0. Statement and solution reproduced as published; topic and difficulty added by this site.