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Geometry Difficulty 5.5 AIME, harder Prove it Estonia

Point DD inside an acute triangle ABCABC satisfies
ADC=BDA=180CAB. \angle ADC = \angle BDA = 180^{\circ} - \angle CAB.
Prove that the point symmetric to point AA w.r.t. point DD lies on the circumcircle of the triangle ABCABC.

Solutions — 2

Solution 1

Let the line ADAD intersect the circumcircle of the triangle ABCABC a second time at point DD'; by the assumptions, CDD=DDB=CAB\angle CDD' = \angle D'DB = \angle CAB (see figure below).

Figure 1

We show that AD=DDAD = DD'. As the quadrilateral ABDCABD'C is cyclic, ABC=ADC=DDC\angle ABC = \angle AD'C = \angle DD'C and BCA=BDA=BDD\angle BCA = \angle BD'A = \angle BD'D. Thus the triangles ABCABC, DDCDD'C and DBDDBD' are similar. Hence DDDB=DCDD\frac{|DD'|}{|DB|} = \frac{|DC|}{|DD'|}, implying DD2=BDCD|DD'|^2 = |BD| \cdot |CD|.

By similarity of the triangles ABCABC and DDCDD'C, we obtain BCA=DCD\angle BCA = \angle D'CD, which implies DCA=DCB=DAB=DAB\angle DCA = \angle D'CB = \angle D'AB = \angle DAB. By similarity of the triangles ABCABC and DBDDBD' we analogously get ABD=CBD=CAD=CAD\angle ABD = \angle CBD' = \angle CAD' = \angle CAD. Hence the triangles ABDABD and CADCAD are similar. Consequently, ADCD=BDAD\frac{AD}{CD} = \frac{BD}{AD}, which implies AD2=BDCDAD^2 = BD \cdot CD.

Altogether, we have proven AD2=DD2AD^2 = DD'^2, which implies the desired result.

Solution 2

Let the line ADAD intersect the circumcircle of the triangle ABCABC a second time at point DD'; by the assumptions, CDD=DDB=CAB\angle CDD' = \angle D'DB = \angle CAB. We show that AD=DDAD = DD'.

Let OO be the circumcenter of the triangle ABCABC. Let the line ADAD intersect the circumcircle of the triangle BCDBCD a second time at point AA' (see figure below).

Figure 2

By the equality CDA=ADB\angle CDA' = \angle A'DB, the arcs BABA' and ACA'C of the circumcircle of the triangle BCDBCD are equal.

By the conditions of the problem, CDB=2CAB\angle CDB = 2\angle CAB. Hence point OO lies on the circumcircle of the triangle BCDBCD. Since OC=OBOC = OB, the arcs COCO and OBOB of the circumcircle of the triangle BCDBCD are equal.

Consequently, OAOA' is a diameter of the circumcircle of the triangle BCDBCD. If ODO \neq D then, by Thales' theorem, ADO=90\angle A'DO = 90^\circ. Thus ODADOD \perp AD', which implies AD=DDAD = DD' since a radius perpendicular to a chord bisects the chord. If O=DO = D (see figure below) then ADAD' is a diameter of the circumcircle of the triangle ABCABC, obviously bisected by the center OO.

Figure 3

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