Olympiad Maths Prep

Library / /39 of 45

Geometry Difficulty 6.9 National olympiad Prove it Ukraine

Let's consider on the Cartesian plane all pairs of distinct points (A,B)(A, B), each of which has both integer coordinates. Among these pairs of points, find all those for which there exist two distinct points (X,Y)(X, Y) with both integer coordinates, such that quadrilateral AXBYAXBY is convex and inscribed.
A quadrilateral is called convex if both of its diagonals lie inside the quadrilateral.

Solution

First, we will show that for points that are at a distance of 11 from each other, there are no points (X,Y)(X, Y) that satisfy the condition. Indeed, let us assume that such points exist. Then, AXB+AYB=180\angle AXB + \angle AYB = 180^\circ, which means that at least one of these angles is not less than 9090^\circ. Therefore, at least one of the points X,YX, Y must lie inside or on the circle with diameter ABAB, but this circle does not contain any other integer points except for AA and BB.

Now, let's show that for all other pairs of points, such a pair (X,Y)(X, Y) can be found. Let A=(a1,a2)A = (a_1, a_2) and B=(b1,b2)B = (b_1, b_2). If a1b1a_1 \ne b_1 and a2b2a_2 \ne b_2, then we can take X=(a1,b2)X = (a_1, b_2) and Y=(b1,a2)Y = (b_1, a_2), and AXBYAXBY

will be a rectangle, which means that it is inscribed. Otherwise, without loss of generality, we can assume that a2=b2=ta_2 = b_2 = t, and A=(a1,t)A = (a_1, t) and B=(b1,t)B = (b_1, t), where a1b1>1|a_1 - b_1| > 1. Without loss of generality, we can also assume that a1<b1a_1 < b_1. Then, it is sufficient to take the following points: X=(a1+1,t1)X = (a_1 + 1, t - 1) and Y=(a1+1,t+(b1a11))Y = (a_1 + 1, t + (b_1 - a_1 - 1)). It is easy to see that the segments ABAB and XYXY intersect at the point K=(a1+1,t)K = (a_1 + 1, t), and AKBK=XKYK=1(b1a11)AK \cdot BK = XK \cdot YK = 1 \cdot (b_1 - a_1 - 1), so the quadrilateral AXBYAXBY is indeed inscribed.

Looking for a route rather than an archive? The track puts 2,000 problems in a working order, from AMC 10 level to the IMO shortlist.

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