Maths Olympiad Prep

Library / Vietnamese Mathematical Olympiad /66 of 68

Vietnamese Mathematical Olympiad

Geometry Difficulty 7.7 National Olympiad, round 2 Prove it Vietnam

In the plane given a circle (O)(O) and two fixed points BB, CC on the circle, such that BCBC is not a diameter. Consider a point AA moving on (O)(O) in such a way that AB=ACAB = AC and AA is not coincident with BB, CC. Denote by DD and EE the intersections of line BCBC with the internal bisector and the external bisector of angle BACBAC. Let II be the midpoint of DEDE. The line passing through the orthocenter of ABCABC and perpendicular with AIAI intersects lines ADAD and AEAE in MM and NN respectively.

a/ Show that MNMN always passes through a fixed point.

b/ Determine the positions of AA such that the triangle ABCABC has the largest area.

Solution

a/ First, we show MN∥OAMN \parallel OA.
Indeed, without loss of generality assume that ABC‾>ACB‾\overline{ABC} > \overline{ACB}. Then
OAD‾=OAB‾−DAB‾=180∘−AOB‾2−BAC‾2=90∘−(C^+BAC‾2)(1) \overline{OAD} = \overline{OAB} - \overline{DAB} = \frac{180^\circ - \overline{AOB}}{2} - \frac{\overline{BAC}}{2} = 90^\circ - \left( \hat{C} + \frac{\overline{BAC}}{2} \right) \quad (1)
Since ADAD and AEAE are internal and external bisectors of BACBAC, we have AD⊥AEAD \perp AE. Together
with the assumption that II is the midpoint of DEDE, we conclude
IAE‾=IEA‾=90∘−ADE‾=90∘−(BAC‾2+C^)(2) \overline{IAE} = \overline{IEA} = 90^\circ - \overline{ADE} = 90^\circ - \left( \frac{\overline{BAC}}{2} + \hat{C} \right) \quad (2)
From (1) and (2) it follows that OAD‾=IAE‾\overline{OAD} = \overline{IAE}.

Hence OAI‾=OAD‾+DAI‾=IAE‾+DAI‾=90∘\overline{OAI} = \overline{OAD} + \overline{DAI} = \overline{IAE} + \overline{DAI} = 90^\circ, or OA⊥AIOA \perp AI. But MN⊥AIMN \perp AI (assumption)
hence MN∥OAMN \parallel OA. (3)
Let HH be the orthocenter of triangle ABCABC and KK be the midpoint of BCBC, we have H∈MNH \in MN (assumption) and AH‾=2OK‾\overline{AH} = 2\overline{OK}. Since OO and KK are fixed, the vector v‾=2OK‾\overline{v} = 2\overline{OK} is constant.
Together with (3), this implies MNMN is the image of OAOA under the translation along vector v‾\overline{v}.
Hence, let O′O' be the image of OO under the translation along vector v‾\overline{v}, we have O′∈MNO' \in MN.
Since OO is fixed, O′O' is also fixed. Thus MNMN always passes through a fixed point.

b/ It follows from (3) that AMN‾=OAD‾\overline{AMN} = \overline{OAD}. Together with (1) and (2) this implies AMN‾=IEA‾\overline{AMN} = \overline{IEA}.
But MAH‾=IEA‾\overline{MAH} = \overline{IEA} (angles with parallel sides) hence AMN‾=MAH‾\overline{AMN} = \overline{MAH}. Consequently, since AMNAMN is a right-angled triangle in AA, HH is the midpoint of MNMN. Thus MN=2AH=4OK=constMN = 2AH = 4OK = \text{const}. Hence, AMNAMN has the largest area if and only if it is isosceles in AA.
We have: △AMN\triangle AMN isosceles and right-angled in A⇔MN⊥AH⇔MN∥BC⇔OA∥BCA \Leftrightarrow MN \perp AH \Leftrightarrow MN \parallel BC \Leftrightarrow OA \parallel BC.
Thus, the triangle AMNAMN has the largest area if and only if AA is in the two ends of the diameter parallel with BCBC.

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.