Maths Olympiad Prep

Library / International Mathematical Olympiad /47 of 110

International Mathematical Olympiad

Geometry Difficulty 8.4 Shortlist Prove it China

An acute triangle ABCABC has orthocenter HH. The circle through HH with center the midpoint of BCBC intersects the line BCBC at A1A_1 and A2A_2. Similarly, the circle passing through HH with center the midpoint of CACA intersects the line CACA at B1B_1 and B2B_2, and the circle passing through HH with center the midpoint of ABAB intersects the line ABAB at C1C_1 and C2C_2. Show that A1,A2,B1,B2,C1,C2A_1, A_2, B_1, B_2, C_1, C_2 are concyclic.

Solution

Figure 1

Proof I Let B0B_0, C0C_0 be the midpoints of CACA, ABAB respectively. Denote A′A' as the other intersection of the circle centered at B0B_0 which passes through HH and the circle centered at C0C_0 which passes through HH. We know that A′H⊥C0B0A'H \perp C_0B_0. Since B0B_0, C0C_0 are the midpoints of CACA, ABAB respectively, B0C0∥BCB_0C_0 \parallel BC. Therefore A′H⊥BCA'H \perp BC. This yields that A′A' lies on the segment AHAH.

By the Secant-Secant theorem, it follows that
AC1⋅AC2=AA′⋅AH=AB1⋅AB2, AC_1 \cdot AC_2 = AA' \cdot AH = AB_1 \cdot AB_2,
So B1B_1, B2B_2, C1C_1, C2C_2 are concyclic.

Let the intersection of the perpendicular bisectors of B1B2B_1B_2, C1C2C_1C_2 be OO. Then OO is the circumcenter of quadrilateral B1B2C1C2B_1B_2C_1C_2, as well as the circumcenter of △ABC\triangle ABC. So
OB1=OB2=OC1=OC2. OB_1 = OB_2 = OC_1 = OC_2.
Similarly,
OA1=OA2=OB1=OB2. OA_1 = OA_2 = OB_1 = OB_2.
Therefore, six points A1A_1, A2A_2, B1B_1, B2B_2, C1C_1, C2C_2 are all on the same circle, whose center is OO, and radius OA1OA_1.

Proof II Let OO be the circumcenter of triangle ABCABC, and DD, EE, FF the midpoints of BCBC, CACA, ABAB respectively. BHBH intersects DFDF at point PP, then BH⊥DFBH \perp DF. By Pythagoras' theorem, we have
BF2−FH2=BP2−PH2=BD2−DH2,1◯ BF^2 - FH^2 = BP^2 - PH^2 = BD^2 - DH^2, \qquad \textcircled{1}
BO2−A1O2=BD2−A1D2=BD2−DH2.2◯ BO^2 - A_1O^2 = BD^2 - A_1D^2 = BD^2 - DH^2. \qquad \textcircled{2}
Similarly,
BO2−C2O2=BF2−FH2,3◯ BO^2 - C_2O^2 = BF^2 - FH^2, \qquad \textcircled{3}
By ①, ②, ③, A1O=C2OA_1O = C_2O. It is obvious that A1O=A2OA_1O = A_2O, C1O=C2OC_1O = C_2O, thus
A1O=A2O=C1O=C2O. A_1O = A_2O = C_1O = C_2O.
Similarly,
A1O=A2O=B1O=B2O. A_1O = A_2O = B_1O = B_2O.
Therefore, six points A1A_1, A2A_2, B1B_1, B2B_2, C1C_1, C2C_2 are all on the same circle, whose center is OO.

Want a route through all this instead of an archive? The track puts 2,604 problems in a working order, from Junior Challenge level to the IMO shortlist.

Source: MathNet, licensed CC-BY-4.0. Statement reproduced verbatim; metadata (topic, difficulty) added by this project.