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Geometry Difficulty 7.7 National olympiad, round 2 Prove it Asia Pacific Mathematics Olympiad (APMO)

Let ABCABC be an acute triangle satisfying the condition AB>BCAB > BC and AC>BCAC > BC. Denote by OO and HH the circumcenter and the orthocenter, respectively, of the triangle ABCABC. Suppose that the circumcircle of the triangle AHCAHC intersects the line ABAB at MM different from AA, and that the circumcircle of the triangle AHBAHB intersects the line ACAC at NN different from AA. Prove that the circumcenter of the triangle MNHMNH lies on the line OHOH.

Solution

In the sequel, we denote BAC=α\angle BAC = \alpha, CBA=β\angle CBA = \beta, ACB=γ\angle ACB = \gamma. Let OO' be the circumcenter of the triangle MNHMNH. The lengths of line segments starting from the point HH will be treated as signed quantities.
Let us denote by M,NM', N' the point of intersection of CH,BHCH, BH, respectively, with the circumcircle of the triangle ABCABC (distinct from C,BC, B, respectively.) From the fact that 4 points A,M,H,CA, M, H, C lie on the same circle, we see that MHM=α\angle MHM' = \alpha holds. Furthermore, BMC\angle BM'C, BNC\angle BN'C and α\alpha are all subtended by the same arc \overparenBC\overparen{BC} of the circumcircle of the triangle ABCABC at points on the circle, and therefore, we have BMC=α\angle BM'C = \alpha, and BNC=α\angle BN'C = \alpha as well. We also have ABH=ACN\angle ABH = \angle ACN' as they are subtended by the same arc \overparenAN\overparen{AN'} of the circumcircle of the triangle ABCABC at points on the circle. Since HMBMHM' \perp BM, HNACHN' \perp AC, we conclude that
MHB=90ABH=90ACN=α \angle M'HB = 90^\circ - \angle ABH = 90^\circ - \angle ACN' = \alpha
is valid as well. Putting these facts together, we obtain the fact that the quadrilateral HBMMHBM'M is a rhombus. In a similar manner, we can conclude that the quadrilateral HCNNHCN'N is also a rhombus. Since both of these rhombuses are made up of 4 right triangles with an angle of magnitude α\alpha, we also see that these rhombuses are similar.
Let us denote by P,QP, Q the feet of the perpendicular lines on HMHM and HNHN, respectively, drawn from the point OO'. Since OO' is the circumcenter of the triangle MNHMNH, P,QP, Q are respectively, the midpoints of the line segments HM,HNHM, HN. Furthermore, if we denote by R,SR, S the feet of the perpendicular lines on HMHM and HNHN, respectively, drawn from the point OO, then since OO is the circumcenter of both the triangle MBCM'BC and the triangle NBCN'BC, we see that RR is the intersection point of HMHM and the perpendicular bisector of BMBM', and SS is the intersection point of HNHN and the perpendicular bisector of CNCN'.
We note that the similarity map ϕ\phi between the rhombuses HBMMHBM'M and HCNNHCN'N carries the perpendicular bisector of BMBM' onto the perpendicular bisector of CNCN', and straight line HMHM onto the straight line HNHN, and hence ϕ\phi maps RR onto SS, and PP onto QQ. Therefore, we get HP:HR=HQ:HSHP : HR = HQ : HS. If we now denote by X,YX, Y the intersection points of the line HOHO' with the line through RR and perpendicular to HPHP, and with the line through SS and perpendicular to HQHQ, respectively, then we get
HO:HX=HP:HR=HQ:HS=HO:HY HO' : HX = HP : HR = HQ : HS = HO' : HY
so that we must have HX=HYHX = HY, and therefore, X=YX = Y. But it is obvious that the point of intersection of the line through RR and perpendicular to HPHP with the line through SS and perpendicular to HQHQ must be OO, and therefore, we conclude that X=Y=OX = Y = O and that the points H,O,OH, O', O are collinear.

Alternate Solution:

Deduction of the fact that both of the quadrilaterals HBMMHBM'M and HCNNHCN'N are rhombuses is carried out in the same way as in the preceding proof.
We then see that the point MM is located in a symmetric position with the point BB with respect to the line CHCH, we conclude that we have CMB=β\angle CMB = \beta. Similarly, we have CNB=γ\angle CNB = \gamma. If we now put x=AHOx = \angle AHO', then we get
O=βαx,MNH=90βα+x, \angle O' = \beta - \alpha - x, \quad \angle MNH = 90^\circ - \beta - \alpha + x,
from which it follows that
ANM=180MNH(90α)=βx. \angle ANM = 180^\circ - \angle MNH - (90^\circ - \alpha) = \beta - x .
Similarly, we get
NMA=γ+x. \angle NMA = \gamma + x .
Using the laws of sines, we then get
sin(γ+x)sin(βx)=ANAM=ACAMABACANAB=sinβsin(βα)sinγsinβsin(γα)sinγ=sin(γα)sin(βα) \begin{aligned} \frac{\sin (\gamma + x)}{\sin (\beta - x)} & = \frac{AN}{AM} = \frac{AC}{AM} \cdot \frac{AB}{AC} \cdot \frac{AN}{AB} \\ & = \frac{\sin \beta}{\sin (\beta - \alpha)} \cdot \frac{\sin \gamma}{\sin \beta} \cdot \frac{\sin (\gamma - \alpha)}{\sin \gamma} = \frac{\sin (\gamma - \alpha)}{\sin (\beta - \alpha)} \end{aligned}
On the other hand, if we let y=AHOy = \angle AHO, we then get
OHB=180γy,CHO=180β+y, \angle OHB = 180^\circ - \gamma - y, \quad \angle CHO = 180^\circ - \beta + y,
and since
HBO=γα,OCH=βα, \angle HBO = \gamma - \alpha, \angle OCH = \beta - \alpha,
using the laws of sines and observing that OB=OCOB = OC, we get
sin(γα)sin(βα)=sinHBOsinOCH=sin(180γy)OHOBsin(180β+y)OHOC=sin(180γy)sin(180β+y)=sin(γ+y)sin(βy) \begin{aligned} \frac{\sin (\gamma - \alpha)}{\sin (\beta - \alpha)} = \frac{\sin \angle HBO}{\sin \angle OCH} & = \frac{\sin (180^\circ - \gamma - y) \cdot \frac{OH}{OB}}{\sin (180^\circ - \beta + y) \cdot \frac{OH}{OC}} \\ & = \frac{\sin (180^\circ - \gamma - y)}{\sin (180^\circ - \beta + y)} = \frac{\sin (\gamma + y)}{\sin (\beta - y)} \end{aligned}
We then get sin(γ+x)sin(βy)=sin(βx)sin(γ+y)\sin (\gamma + x) \sin (\beta - y) = \sin (\beta - x) \sin (\gamma + y). Expanding both sides of the last identity by using the addition formula for the sine function and after factoring and using again the addition formula we obtain that sin(xy)sin(β+γ)=0\sin (x - y) \sin (\beta + \gamma) = 0. This implies that xyx - y must be an integral multiple of 180180^\circ, and hence we conclude that H,O,OH, O, O' are collinear.

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