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Geometry Difficulty 8.2 Shortlist Prove it Germany

Problem:

The triangle ABCA B C has a right angle at AA. Let MM denote the midpoint of the segment BCB C. The point DD lies on the side ACA C and satisfies AD=AM\overline{A D}=\overline{A M}. Let PP be the intersection point, different from CC, of the circumcircles of the triangles AMCA M C and BDCB D C. Prove that CPC P bisects the angle of the triangle ABCA B C located at CC.

Solutions — 2

Solution 1

Solution:

The angle P D C\text{P D C} is on the one hand the supplementary angle of A D P\text{A D P}, and on the other hand, in the cyclic quadrilateral BPDCB P D C, it is opposite the angle C B P\text{C B P}. Hence A D P = C B P\text{A D P = C B P}. Analogously, the angle C M P\text{C M P} is the supplementary angle of P M B\text{P M B} and, in the cyclic quadrilateral APMCA P M C, it is opposite the angle P A C\text{P A C}, so P M B = P A C\text{P M B = P A C}. The triangles PBMP B M and PDAP D A thus agree in the interior angles at BB and DD as well as at MM and AA; moreover, by assumption AD=AM=MB\overline{A D} = \overline{A M} = \overline{M B} (the last equality follows from Thales' theorem). By the ASA congruence theorem, the triangles PBMP B M and PDAP D A are congruent; in particular, their altitudes from PP have equal length. But these are the perpendiculars from PP to the triangle sides CAC A and CBC B, respectively, so PP lies on the angle bisector.

Solution 2

Solution:

Denote by mXYm_{X Y} the perpendicular bisector of the segment XYX Y. Then both mCDm_{C D} and mCAm_{C A} as well as mCMm_{C M} and mCBm_{C B} are pairs of parallel lines at distance 14BC\frac{1}{4} \overline{B C}, so they bound a rhombus. The centers M1,M2M_{1}, M_{2} of the two circumcircles mentioned in the problem are the intersection points of mCAm_{C A} with mCMm_{C M} and of mCDm_{C D} with mCBm_{C B}, respectively. The line (CP)(C P) is perpendicular to the connecting line (M1M2)\left(M_{1} M_{2}\right), hence it is parallel to the second diagonal of the rhombus. One easily convinces oneself that the second diagonal is parallel to the angle bisector.

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Source: MathNet, licensed CC-BY-4.0. Statement translated into English from de; metadata (topic, difficulty) added by this project.