Maths Olympiad Prep

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, 2008

Geometry Difficulty 6.3 National Olympiad Prove it JBMO

Problem:
Let ABCABC be a triangle with A<90A < 90^{\circ}. Outside of the triangle we consider isosceles triangles ABEABE and ACZACZ with bases ABAB and ACAC, respectively. If the midpoint DD of the side BCBC is such that DEDZDE \perp DZ and EZ=2EDEZ = 2 \cdot ED, prove that AEB^=2AZC^\widehat{AEB} = 2 \cdot \widehat{AZC}.

Figure 1

Solution

Solution:
Since DD is the midpoint of the side BCBC, in the extension of the line segment ZDZD we take a point HH such that ZD=DHZD = DH. Then the quadrilateral BHCZBHCZ is a parallelogram and therefore we have
BH=ZC=ZA BH = ZC = ZA
Figure 2
Also from the isosceles triangle ABEABE we get
BE=AE BE = AE
Since DEDZDE \perp DZ, EDED is altitude and median of the triangle EZHEZH and so this triangle is isosceles with
EH=EZ EH = EZ
From (1), (2) and (3) we conclude that the triangles BEHBEH and AEZAEZ are equal. Therefore they have also
BEH^=AEZ^,EBH^=EAZ^ and EHB^=AZE^ \widehat{BEH} = \widehat{AEZ}, \quad \widehat{EBH} = \widehat{EAZ} \text{ and } \widehat{EHB} = \widehat{AZE}
Putting EBA^=EAB^=ω\widehat{EBA} = \widehat{EAB} = \omega, ZAC^=ZCA^=φ\widehat{ZAC} = \widehat{ZCA} = \varphi, then we have CBH^=BCZ^=C^+φ\widehat{CBH} = \widehat{BCZ} = \widehat{C} + \varphi, and therefore from the equality EBH^=EAZ^\widehat{EBH} = \widehat{EAZ} we receive:
360EBA^B^CBH^=EAB^+A^+ZAC^360B^ωφC^=ω+A^+φ2(ω+φ)=360(A^+B^+C^)ω+φ=90180AEB^2+180AZC^2=90AEB^+AZC^=180 \begin{gathered} 360^{\circ} - \widehat{EBA} - \widehat{B} - \widehat{CBH} = \widehat{EAB} + \widehat{A} + \widehat{ZAC} \\ \Rightarrow 360^{\circ} - \widehat{B} - \omega - \varphi - \widehat{C} = \omega + \widehat{A} + \varphi \\ \Rightarrow 2(\omega + \varphi) = 360^{\circ} - (\widehat{A} + \widehat{B} + \widehat{C}) \\ \Rightarrow \omega + \varphi = 90^{\circ} \\ \Rightarrow \frac{180^{\circ} - \widehat{AEB}}{2} + \frac{180^{\circ} - \widehat{AZC}}{2} = 90^{\circ} \\ \Rightarrow \widehat{AEB} + \widehat{AZC} = 180^{\circ} \end{gathered}
From the supposition EZ=2EDEZ = 2 \cdot ED, we get that the right triangle ZEHZEH has EZD^=30\widehat{EZD} = 30^{\circ} and ZED^=60\widehat{ZED} = 60^{\circ}. Thus we have ZEH^=120\widehat{ZEH} = 120^{\circ}.
However, since we have proved that BEH^=AEZ^\widehat{BEH} = \widehat{AEZ}, we get that
AEB^=AEZ^+ZEB^=ZEB^+BEH^=ZEH^=120 \widehat{AEB} = \widehat{AEZ} + \widehat{ZEB} = \widehat{ZEB} + \widehat{BEH} = \widehat{ZEH} = 120^{\circ}
From (5) and (6) we obtain that AZC^=60\widehat{AZC} = 60^{\circ} and thus AEB^=2AZC^\widehat{AEB} = 2 \cdot \widehat{AZC}.

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