Maths Olympiad Prep

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Geometry Difficulty 5.3 AIME, harder Prove it United States

Problem:

Let ABCDEFA B C D E F be a convex equilateral hexagon such that lines BCB C, ADA D, and EFE F are parallel. Let HH be the orthocenter of triangle ABDA B D. If the smallest interior angle of the hexagon is 44 degrees, determine the smallest angle of the triangle HADH A D in degrees.

Solution

Solution:

Answer: 33

Note that ABCDA B C D and DEFAD E F A are isosceles trapezoids, so BAD=CDA\angle B A D = \angle C D A and FAD=EDA\angle F A D = \angle E D A. In order for the hexagon to be convex, the angles at BB, CC, EE, and FF have to be obtuse, so A=D=4\angle A = \angle D = 4^{\circ}. Letting ss be a side length of the hexagon, AD=ABcosBAD+BC+CDcosCDA=s(1+2cosBAD)A D = A B \cos \angle B A D + B C + C D \cos \angle C D A = s(1 + 2 \cos \angle B A D), so BAD\angle B A D is uniquely determined by ADA D. Since the same equation holds for trapezoid DEFAD E F A, it follows that BAD=FAD=CDA=EDA=2\angle B A D = \angle F A D = \angle C D A = \angle E D A = 2^{\circ}. Then BCD=1802=178\angle B C D = 180^{\circ} - 2^{\circ} = 178^{\circ}. Since BCD\triangle B C D is isosceles, CDB=1\angle C D B = 1^{\circ} and BDA=1\angle B D A = 1^{\circ}. (One may also note that BDA=1\angle B D A = 1^{\circ} by observing that equal lengths ABA B and BCB C must intercept equal arcs on the circumcircle of isosceles trapezoid ABCDA B C D.)

Let AA', BB', and DD' be the feet of the perpendiculars from AA, BB, and DD to BDB D, DAD A, and ABA B, respectively. Angle chasing yields

AHD=AHB+DHB=(90AAB)+(90DDB)=BDA+BAD=1+2=3HAD=90AHB=89HDA=90DHB=88 \begin{aligned} \angle A H D & = \angle A H B' + \angle D H B' = \left(90^{\circ} - \angle A' A B'\right) + \left(90^{\circ} - \angle D' D B'\right) \\ & = \angle B D A + \angle B A D = 1^{\circ} + 2^{\circ} = 3^{\circ} \\ \angle H A D & = 90^{\circ} - \angle A H B' = 89^{\circ} \\ \angle H D A & = 90^{\circ} - \angle D H B' = 88^{\circ} \end{aligned}

Hence the smallest angle in HAD\triangle H A D is 33^{\circ}.

Figure 1

It is faster, however, to draw the circumcircle of DEFAD E F A, and to note that since HH is the orthocenter of triangle ABDA B D, BB is the orthocenter of triangle HADH A D. Then since FF is the reflection of BB across ADA D, quadrilateral HAFDH A F D is cyclic, so AHD=ADF+DAF=1+2=3\angle A H D = \angle A D F + \angle D A F = 1^{\circ} + 2^{\circ} = 3^{\circ}, as desired.

Figure 2

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Source: MathNet, licensed CC-BY-4.0. Statement reproduced verbatim; metadata (topic, difficulty) added by this project.