Maths Olympiad Prep

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, 2011

Geometry Difficulty 4.7 AIME Prove it South Africa

Let circles Γ1\Gamma_1 and Γ2\Gamma_2 intersect at DD and PP. The common tangent of the two circles closest to the point DD touches Γ1\Gamma_1 at AA and Γ2\Gamma_2 at BB. The line ADAD intersects Γ2\Gamma_2 for the second time in CC. Let MM be the middle of the line segment BCBC. Prove that DPM=BDC\angle DPM = \angle BDC.

Solution

Figure 1
Let SS be the intersection of PDPD and ABAB. Then SS lies on the radical axis of the two circles, so AS=SBAS = SB, that is, PSPS is a median in triangle PABPAB.
Now, by the tan-chord theorem,
BAP=180ADP=CDP=CBP. \angle BAP = 180^\circ - \angle ADP = \angle CDP = \angle CBP.
Also, ABP=BCP\angle ABP = \angle BCP, which implies that PABPBC\triangle PAB \||\| \triangle PBC. Since PMPM is a median in triangle BPCBPC, it follows that DPB=MPC\angle DPB = \angle MPC. Hence
DPM=DPB+BPM=MPC+BPM=BPC=BDC. \angle DPM = \angle DPB + \angle BPM = \angle MPC + \angle BPM = \angle BPC = \angle BDC.

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