Maths Olympiad Prep

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Geometry Difficulty 5.9 AIME, harder Prove it Mongolia

Let ω\omega be the circumcircle of a scalene triangle ABCABC. The tangents to ω\omega at AA and CC meet in PP, and the line BPBP intersects ω\omega in DD. Let BBBB' be a diameter of ω\omega. The exterior angle bisector of ABC\angle ABC and the lines BAB'A and BCB'C intersect in AA' and CC', respectively. Prove that A,B,C,DA', B', C', D are cyclic.

Solution

Since PCPC is a tangent to ω\omega we have PCDPBC\triangle PCD \cong \triangle PBC and so CDPB=PCCBCD \cdot PB = PC \cdot CB. Similarly, ADPB=PAABAD \cdot PB = PA \cdot AB. Thus
CDCB=ADAB.() \frac{CD}{CB} = \frac{AD}{AB}. \qquad (*)
since PA=PCPA = PC. We also have that AABCCB\triangle AA'B \sim \triangle CC'B because of ABA=CBC\angle ABA' = \angle CBC' and AAB=BCC=90\angle A'AB = \angle BCC' = 90^\circ. Hence ABCB=AACC\frac{AB}{CB} = \frac{AA'}{CC'}. Thus it follows from (*) that AACC=ADCD\frac{AA'}{CC'} = \frac{AD}{CD}. Hence DAADCC\triangle DAA' \sim \triangle DCC' since BAD=BCD\angle B'AD = \angle B'CD which follows from DAA=DCC\angle DAA' = \angle DCC'. Therefore AAD=BCD\angle AA'D = \angle B'C'D, implying that B,A,C,DB', A', C', D are cyclic.

Figure 1

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