Maths Olympiad Prep

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Slovenia — National Math Olympiad

Geometry Difficulty 5.7 AIME, harder Prove it Slovenia

Let ABCDABCD be a rectangle with ∣AB∣>∣BC∣|AB| > |BC|. The bisector of the diagonal ACAC meets the side CDCD at EE. The circle with the centre at EE and the radius AEAE meets the segment ABAB again at FF. Let GG be the orthogonal projection of the point CC to the line EFEF. Show that GG lies on the diagonal BDBD.

Solution

Denote ∠FAE=α\angle FAE = \alpha. Since the point EE lies on the bisector of the segment ACAC, its distances to the points AA and CC are the same. Hence, EE is the centre of the circle containing the points AA, CC and FF and we have ∣AE∣=∣CE∣=∣FE∣|AE| = |CE| = |FE|. So, ∠EFA=∠FAE=α\angle EFA = \angle FAE = \alpha. Since ABAB and CDCD are parallel we get ∠DEA=∠EAF=α\angle DEA = \angle EAF = \alpha and ∠CEF=∠EFA=α\angle CEF = \angle EFA = \alpha.

Figure 1

The right triangles AEDAED and CEGCEG are congruent because they have three common angles and the hypothenuses have the same length.
So, ∣ED∣=∣EG∣|ED| = |EG| and ∣CG∣=∣AD∣=∣BC∣|CG| = |AD| = |BC|. From here we can conclude that the triangle DEGDEG is isosceles and
∠EGD=π−∠DEG2=∠GEC2=α2. \angle EGD = \frac{\pi - \angle DEG}{2} = \frac{\angle GEC}{2} = \frac{\alpha}{2}.

By Pythagoras' theorem we have ∣FB∣2=∣FC∣2−∣BC∣2=∣FC∣2−∣GC∣2=∣FG∣2|FB|^2 = |FC|^2 - |BC|^2 = |FC|^2 - |GC|^2 = |FG|^2, so ∣FB∣=∣FG∣|FB| = |FG|. Therefore, GFBGFB is an equilateral triangle and
∠FGB=π−∠GFB2=∠GFA2=α2. \angle FGB = \frac{\pi - \angle GFB}{2} = \frac{\angle GFA}{2} = \frac{\alpha}{2}.
We have shown that ∠FGB=∠EGD\angle FGB = \angle EGD, so the points BB, GG and DD are congruent.

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