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USAMO, 2009

Geometry Difficulty 7.0 National Olympiad, round 2 Prove it United States

Given circles ω1\omega_1 and ω2\omega_2 intersecting at points XX and YY, let ℓ1\ell_1 be a line through the center of ω1\omega_1 intersecting ω2\omega_2 at points PP and QQ and let ℓ2\ell_2 be a line through the center of ω2\omega_2 intersecting ω1\omega_1 at points RR and SS. Prove that if P,Q,RP, Q, R and SS lie on a single circle then the center of this circle lies on line XYXY.

Solutions — 2

Solution 1

Let ω\omega denote the circumcircle of P,Q,R,SP, Q, R, S and let OO denote the center of ω\omega. Line XYXY is the radical axis of circles ω1\omega_1 and ω2\omega_2. It suffices to show that OO has equal power to the two circles; that is, to show that
OO12−O1S2=OO22−O2Q2orOO12+O2Q2=OO22+O1S2. OO_1^2 - O_1S^2 = OO_2^2 - O_2Q^2 \quad \text{or} \quad OO_1^2 + O_2Q^2 = OO_2^2 + O_1S^2.
Let MM and NN be the intersections of lines O2O,ℓ1O_2O, \ell_1 and O1O,ℓ2O_1O, \ell_2. Because circles ω\omega and ω2\omega_2 intersect at points PP and QQ, we have PQ⊥OO2PQ \perp OO_2 (or ℓ1⊥OO2\ell_1 \perp OO_2). Hence
OO12−OQ2=(OM2+MO12)−(OM2+MQ2)=(O2M2+MO12)−(O2M2+MQ2)=O2O12−O2Q2 OO_1^2 - OQ^2 = (OM^2 + MO_1^2) - (OM^2 + MQ^2) = (O_2M^2 + MO_1^2) - (O_2M^2 + MQ^2) = O_2O_1^2 - O_2Q^2
or
O2O12+OQ2=OO12+O2Q2. O_2O_1^2 + OQ^2 = OO_1^2 + O_2Q^2.
Likewise, we have O2O12+OS2=OO22+O1S2O_2O_1^2 + OS^2 = OO_2^2 + O_1S^2. Because OS=OQOS = OQ, we obtain that OO12+O2Q2=OO22+O1S2OO_1^2 + O_2Q^2 = OO_2^2 + O_1S^2, which is what was to be proved.

Solution 2

We maintain the notations of the first solution. Three pairs of circles (ω,ω1)(\omega, \omega_1), (ω1,ω2)(\omega_1, \omega_2), (ω2,ω)(\omega_2, \omega) meet at three pairs of points (R,S)(R, S), (X,Y)(X, Y), (P,Q)(P, Q), respectively; that is, lines RS,XY,PQRS, XY, PQ are the respective radical axes of these pairs of circles. Thus, these three radical axes must be concurrent at the radical center, denoted by HH, of these three circles. In particular, it follows that H,X,YH, X, Y lie on a line, denoted by ℓ\ell, and ℓ⊥O1O2\ell \perp O_1O_2.

On the other hand, O1M⊥O2OO_1M \perp O_2O and O2N⊥O1OO_2N \perp O_1O. Hence HH is the orthocenter of triangle OO1O2OO_1O_2, from which it follows that OH⊥O1O2OH \perp O_1O_2. Therefore, OO lies on ℓ\ell; that is, X,P,QX, P, Q are collinear.

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