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Belarusian Mathematical Olympiad

Geometry Difficulty 6.1 National Olympiad Prove it Belarus

Points KK and LL are marked on the side ABAB of the triangle ABCABC so that ∠ACK=∠KCL=∠LCB\angle ACK = \angle KCL = \angle LCB. Point MM is marked on the side BCBC so that ∠MKC=∠BKM\angle MKC = \angle BKM.
Find the value of ∠MLC\angle MLC, if MLML is a bisector of ∠KMB\angle KMB.
(S. Mazanik)

Solution

Answer: 30∘30^\circ.

Figure 1

Since LL lies on the bisector of ∠KCB\angle KCB, LL is equidistant from the lines CPCP and CBCB. Similarly, since LL lies on the bisector of ∠KMB\angle KMB, LL is equidistant from the rays MKMK and MBMB. Therefore, LL is an equidistant point for the rays KMKM and KPKP, so LL lies on the bisector of ∠PKM\angle PKM. Thus, ∠PKL=∠BKM=∠MKC\angle PKL = \angle BKM = \angle MKC. Therefore, each of these angles is equal to 60∘60^\circ. Let ∠ACB=3x\angle ACB = 3x. Since ∠LKC=120∘\angle LKC = 120^\circ, we have ∠KAC=∠LKC−∠ACK=120∘−x\angle KAC = \angle LKC - \angle ACK = 120^\circ - x. Therefore
∠ABC=180∘−∠BAC−∠BCA=180∘−(120∘−x)−3x=60∘−2x. \angle ABC = 180^\circ - \angle BAC - \angle BCA = 180^\circ - (120^\circ - x) - 3x = 60^\circ - 2x.
So,
∠LMB=0.5∠KMB=0.5(180∘−∠LKM−∠ABC)==0.5(180∘−60∘−(60∘−2x))=30∘+x. \begin{aligned} \angle LMB &= 0.5\angle KMB = 0.5(180^\circ - \angle LKM - \angle ABC) = \\ &= 0.5(180^\circ - 60^\circ - (60^\circ - 2x)) = 30^\circ + x. \end{aligned}
Since ∠LMB=∠LCM+∠MLC\angle LMB = \angle LCM + \angle MLC, we obtain ∠MLC=30∘+x−x=30∘\angle MLC = 30^\circ + x - x = 30^\circ.

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