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IRL ABooklet

Geometry Difficulty 6.0 AIME, harder Prove it Ireland

Let K,L,MK, L, M denote three points on the sides BC,ABBC, AB and ACAC of △ABC\triangle ABC, so that ALKMALKM is a parallelogram. Points SS and TT are chosen on lines KLKL and KMKM respectively, so that the quadrilaterals ASBKASBK and AKCTAKCT are both cyclic. Prove that SLMTSLMT is cyclic if and only if KK is the midpoint of BCBC.

Solution

The problem can be solved by angle chasing, by algebraic equations resulting from similar triangles, or by a combination of the two methods.

We first show that S,A,TS, A, T are collinear. Because ASBKASBK is cyclic, we have ∠SAB=∠SKB\angle SAB = \angle SKB. From KS∥ACKS \parallel AC we get ∠SKB=∠C\angle SKB = \angle C, so ∠SAB=∠C\angle SAB = \angle C. Similarly ∠TAC=∠B\angle TAC = \angle B, which shows that S,A,TS, A, T are collinear as
∠SAT=∠A+∠B+∠C=180∘. \angle SAT = \angle A + \angle B + \angle C = 180^\circ.

Quadrilateral SLMTSLMT is cyclic iff ∠KLM=∠ATM\angle KLM = \angle ATM. But ∠ATM=∠C\angle ATM = \angle C and ∠KLM=∠AML\angle KLM = \angle AML so MLSTMLST is cyclic if and only if ∠AML=∠C\angle AML = \angle C, which is equivalent to ML∥BCML \parallel BC.

Figure 1

We will show in two ways that ML∥BCML \parallel BC is equivalent to KK being the midpoint of BCBC.

Version 1. Suppose ML∥BCML \parallel BC. Because KM∥ABKM \parallel AB and KL∥ACKL \parallel AC, we have two parallelograms BKMLBKML and CKLMCKLM hence BK=ML=CKBK = ML = CK.
Reciprocally, if KK is the midpoint of BCBC, then KM∥ABKM \parallel AB and KL∥ACKL \parallel AC imply that LL and MM are the mid-points of ABAB and ACAC, respectively. Hence MLML is a midline in △ABC\triangle ABC and so ML∥BCML \parallel BC.

Version 2. By the Intercept Theorem, ML∥BCML \parallel BC is equivalent to AMMC=ALLB\frac{AM}{MC} = \frac{AL}{LB}. On the other hand, KL∥ACKL \parallel AC and MK∥ABMK \parallel AB imply
CKKB=ALLBandAMMC=BKKC. \frac{CK}{KB} = \frac{AL}{LB} \quad \text{and} \quad \frac{AM}{MC} = \frac{BK}{KC}.
Hence, SLMTSLMT is cyclic if and only if CKKB=BKKC\frac{CK}{KB} = \frac{BK}{KC}, i.e. CK=KBCK = KB.

Solution 2. (based on a strategy by AngYang Li)

Denote lengths of segments as follows:
c=∣AB∣x=∣AM∣=∣KL∣b=∣AC∣y=∣AL∣=∣MK∣. \begin{aligned} c &= |AB| & x &= |AM| = |KL| \\ b &= |AC| & y &= |AL| = |MK|. \end{aligned}
Since LK∥ACLK \parallel AC and MK∥ABMK \parallel AB, we have △MKC∼△ABC∼△LBK\triangle MKC \sim \triangle ABC \sim \triangle LBK, hence
b−xy=bc=xc−yand soy=cb(b−x)andc−y=cb⋅x.(13) \frac{b-x}{y} = \frac{b}{c} = \frac{x}{c-y} \quad \text{and so} \quad y = \frac{c}{b}(b-x) \quad \text{and} \quad c-y = \frac{c}{b} \cdot x. \quad (13)

∣KM∣⋅∣MT∣=∣AM∣⋅∣MC∣=x(b−x)∣KL∣⋅∣LS∣=∣AL∣⋅∣LB∣=y(c−y). \begin{aligned} |KM| \cdot |MT| &= |AM| \cdot |MC| = x(b-x) \\ |KL| \cdot |LS| &= |AL| \cdot |LB| = y(c-y). \end{aligned}
Finally, SLMTSLMT is cyclic iff △KLM∼△KTS\triangle KLM \sim \triangle KTS, which in turn is equivalent to ∣KM∣∣KL∣=∣KS∣∣KT∣\frac{|KM|}{|KL|} = \frac{|KS|}{|KT|} which we rewrite as follows in equivalent ways
∣KM∣⋅∣KT∣=∣KL∣⋅∣KS∣∣KM∣2+∣KM∣⋅∣MT∣=∣KL∣2+∣KL∣⋅∣LS∣y2+x(b−x)=x2+y⋅(c−y) \begin{aligned} & |KM| \cdot |KT| = |KL| \cdot |KS| \\ & |KM|^2 + |KM| \cdot |MT| = |KL|^2 + |KL| \cdot |LS| \\ & y^2 + x(b-x) = x^2 + y \cdot (c-y) \\ \end{aligned}
(b−2x)(c2b2(b−x)+x)=0. (b - 2x) \left( \frac{c^2}{b^2} (b - x) + x \right) = 0.
The last equation holds true iff b=2xb = 2x, i.e. MM is the midpoint of ACAC, which is equivalent to KK being the midpoint of BCBC, as MK∥ABMK \parallel AB.

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