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Geometry Difficulty 6.8 National Olympiad Prove it European Girls' Mathematical Olympiad (EGMO)

Problem:
Let ABCABC be a triangle with an obtuse angle at AA. Let EE and FF be the intersections of the external bisector of angle AA with the altitudes of ABCABC through BB and CC respectively. Let MM and NN be the points on the segments ECEC and FBFB respectively such that EMA=BCA\angle EMA = \angle BCA and ANF=ABC\angle ANF = \angle ABC. Prove that the points E,F,N,ME, F, N, M lie on a circle.

Solutions — 2

Solution 1

Solution:
The first solution is based on the main Lemma. We present this Lemma with two different proofs.
Lemma: Let ABCABC be an acute triangle with AB=BCAB = BC. Let PP be any point on ACAC. Line passing through PP perpendicular to ABAB, intersects ray BCBC in point TT. If the line ATAT intersects the circumscribed circle of the triangle ABCABC the second time at point KK, then AKP=ABP\angle AKP = \angle ABP.

Figure 1

Proof 1:
Let HH be the orthocenter of the triangle ABPABP. Then
BHP=180BAC=180BCP \angle BHP = 180^\circ - \angle BAC = 180^\circ - \angle BCP
So BHPCBHPC is cyclic. Then we get
TKTA=TCTB=TPTH TK \cdot TA = TC \cdot TB = TP \cdot TH
So, AHPKAHPK is also cyclic. But then
AKP=180AHP=ABP \angle AKP = 180^\circ - \angle AHP = \angle ABP

Proof 2:
Consider the symmetric points BB' and CC' of BB and CC, respectively, with respect to the line PTPT. It is clear that
TCTB=TCTB=TKTA TC' \cdot TB' = TC \cdot TB = TK \cdot TA
So BCKAB'C'KA is cyclic. Also, because of the symmetry we have
PCB=PCB=PAB \angle PC'B' = \angle PCB = \angle PAB
So BCPAB'C'PA is also cyclic. Therefore, the points B,C,K,PB', C', K, P and AA all lie on the common circle. Because of this fact and because of the symmetry again we have
PKA=PBA=PBA. \angle PKA = \angle PB'A = \angle PBA.

So, lemma is proved and now return to the problem.

Figure 2

Let HH be intersection point of the altitudes at BB and CC. Denote by MM' and NN' the intersection points of the circumcircle of the triangle HEFHEF with the segments ECEC and FBFB, respectively. We are going to show that M=MM = M' and N=NN = N' and it will prove the points E,F,N,ME, F, N, M lie on a common circle.
Of course, AA is an orthocenter of the triangle BCHBCH. Therefore BHA=BCA\angle BHA = \angle BCA, CHA=CBA\angle CHA = \angle CBA and HBA=HCA\angle HBA = \angle HCA. Thus
HEF=HBA+EAB=HCA+FAC=HFE \angle HEF = \angle HBA + \angle EAB = \angle HCA + \angle FAC = \angle HFE
So, the triangle HEFHEF is isosceles, HE=HFHE = HF.
By using lemma, we get
AME=AHE=ACB \angle AM'E = \angle AHE = \angle ACB
and
ANF=AHF=ABC. \angle AN'F = \angle AHF = \angle ABC.

Figure 3

Therefore M=MM = M' and N=NN = N' and we are done.

Solution 2

Solution:
Let X,YX, Y be projections of BB on ACAC, and CC on ABAB, respectively. Let ω\omega be circumcircle of BXYCBXYC. Let ZZ be intersection of ECEC and ω\omega and DD be projection of EE on BABA.
MAC=AMEMCA=XCBXCE=ZCB=ZXB \angle MAC = \angle AME - \angle MCA = \angle XCB - \angle XCE = \angle ZCB = \angle ZXB
Since BXYCBXYC is cyclic ACY=XBA\angle ACY = \angle XBA, and since DEXADEXA is cyclic
EXD=EAD=FAC \angle EXD = \angle EAD = \angle FAC
Therefore, we get that the quadrangles BZXDBZXD and CMAFCMAF are similar. Hence FMC=DZB\angle FMC = \angle DZB. Since ZEDBZEDB is cyclic,
DZB=DEB=XAB. \angle DZB = \angle DEB = \angle XAB.
Thus FMC=XAB\angle FMC = \angle XAB. Similarly, ENB=YAC\angle ENB = \angle YAC. We get that FMC=ENB\angle FMC = \angle ENB and it implies that the points E,F,N,ME, F, N, M lie on a circle.

Figure 4

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