Maths Olympiad Prep

Library / /57 of 106

Geometry Difficulty 8.4 Shortlist Prove it IMO

Let ABCC1B1A1A B C C_{1} B_{1} A_{1} be a convex hexagon such that AB=BCA B = B C, and suppose that the line segments AA1A A_{1}, BB1B B_{1}, and CC1C C_{1} have the same perpendicular bisector. Let the diagonals AC1A C_{1} and A1CA_{1} C meet at DD, and denote by ω\omega the circle ABCA B C. Let ω\omega intersect the circle A1BC1A_{1} B C_{1} again at EBE \neq B. Prove that the lines BB1B B_{1} and DED E intersect on ω\omega.

Solutions — 2

Solution 1

Solution 1. If AA1=CC1A A_{1} = C C_{1}, then the hexagon is symmetric about the line BB1B B_{1}; in particular the circles ABCA B C and A1BC1A_{1} B C_{1} are tangent to each other. So AA1A A_{1} and CC1C C_{1} must be different. Since the points AA and A1A_{1} can be interchanged with CC and C1C_{1}, respectively, we may assume AA1<CC1A A_{1} < C C_{1}.
Let RR be the radical center of the circles AEBCA E B C and A1EBC1A_{1} E B C_{1}, and the circumcircle of the symmetric trapezoid ACC1A1A C C_{1} A_{1}; that is the common point of the pairwise radical axes ACA C, A1C1A_{1} C_{1}, and BEB E. By the symmetry of ACA C and A1C1A_{1} C_{1}, the point RR lies on the common perpendicular bisector of AA1A A_{1} and CC1C C_{1}, which is the external bisector of ADC\angle A D C.
Let FF be the second intersection of the line DRD R and the circle ACDA C D. From the power of RR with respect to the circles ω\omega and ACFDA C F D we have RBRE=RARC=RDDFR B \cdot R E = R A \cdot R C = R D \cdot D F, so the points B,E,DB, E, D and FF are concyclic.
The line RDFR D F is the external bisector of ADC\angle A D C, so the point FF bisects the arcCDA\operatorname{arc} \overline{C D A}. By AB=BCA B = B C, on circle ω\omega, the point BB is the midpoint of arcAEC\operatorname{arc} \overline{A E C}; let MM be the point diametrically opposite to BB, that is the midpoint of the opposite arcCA~\operatorname{arc} \widetilde{C A} of ω\omega. Notice that the points B,FB, F and MM lie on the perpendicular bisector of ACA C, so they are collinear.
Figure 1
Finally, let XX be the second intersection point of ω\omega and the line DED E. Since BMB M is a diameter in ω\omega, we have BXM=90\angle B X M = 90^{\circ}. Moreover,
EXM=180MBE=180FBE=EDF, \angle E X M = 180^{\circ} - \angle M B E = 180^{\circ} - \angle F B E = \angle E D F,
so MXM X and FDF D are parallel. Since BXB X is perpendicular to MXM X and BB1B B_{1} is perpendicular to FDF D, this shows that XX lies on line BB1B B_{1}.

Solution 2

Solution 2. Define point MM as the point opposite to BB on circle ω\omega, and point RR as the intersection of lines ACA C, A1C1A_{1} C_{1} and BEB E, and show that RR lies on the external bisector of ADC\angle A D C, like in the first solution.
Since BB is the midpoint of the arcAEC\operatorname{arc} \overline{A E C}, the line BERB E R is the external bisector of CEA\angle C E A. Now we show that the internal angle bisectors of ADC\angle A D C and CEA\angle C E A meet on the segment ACA C. Let the angle bisector of ADC\angle A D C meet ACA C at SS, and let the angle bisector of CEA\angle C E A, which is line EME M, meet ACA C at SS^{\prime}. By applying the angle bisector theorem to both internal and external bisectors of ADC\angle A D C and CEA\angle C E A,
AS:CS=AD:CD=AR:CR=AE:CE=AS:CS, A S : C S = A D : C D = A R : C R = A E : C E = A S^{\prime} : C S^{\prime},
so indeed S=SS = S^{\prime}.
By RDS=SER=90\angle R D S = \angle S E R = 90^{\circ} the points R,S,DR, S, D and EE are concyclic.
Figure 2
Now let the lines BB1B B_{1} and DED E meet at point XX. Notice that EXB=EDS\angle E X B = \angle E D S because both BB1B B_{1} and DSD S are perpendicular to the line DRD R, we have that EDS=ERS\angle E D S = \angle E R S in circle SRDES R D E, and ERS=EMB\angle E R S = \angle E M B because SRBMS R \perp B M and ERMEE R \perp M E. Therefore, EXB=EMB\angle E X B = \angle E M B, so indeed, the point XX lies on ω\omega.

Want a route through all this instead of an archive? The track puts 2,000 problems in a working order, from AMC 10 level to the IMO shortlist.

Source: MathNet, licensed CC-BY-4.0. Statement and solution reproduced as published; topic and difficulty added by this site.