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Belarus — Final Round

Geometry Difficulty 6.8 National Olympiad Prove it Belarus

The circle ω\omega passes through the vertices BB and CC of a triangle ABCABC, and meets its sides ABAB and ACAC at points C1C_1 and B1B_1 respectively. Let XX be the midpoint of the arc ∼B1BC\sim B_1BC, and YY be the midpoint of the arc ∼BCC1\sim BCC_1 of ω\omega.
Find the angle between the line XYXY and the bisector of the angle CABCAB.

Solution

Let ∠ABC=β\angle ABC = \beta and ∠BCA=γ\angle BCA = \gamma. Then ∠CAB=180∘−β−γ\angle CAB = 180^\circ - \beta - \gamma. By ξ\xi denote the degree measure of the arc C1BC_1B that does not contain the vertex CC, by η\eta denote the degree measure of the arc C~B1\tilde{C}B_1 that does not contain the vertex BB. Then γ=(ξ+η)/2\gamma = (\xi + \eta)/2 and β=(η+ζ)/2\beta = (\eta + \zeta)/2. Let ZZ be the point of intersection of the lines XYXY and BCBC. Let the figure shows the positions of XX, YY, and ZZ. The angle BZXBZX is the external angle for the triangle ZXCZXC, so ∠BZX=∠ZCX+∠CXZ\angle BZX = \angle ZCX + \angle CXZ. We have
∠ZCX=12(ξ+η−12(360∘−ζ)) \angle ZCX = \frac{1}{2} \left( \xi + \eta - \frac{1}{2} (360^\circ - \zeta) \right)
and
∠CXZ=12(12(360∘−ξ)−(η+ζ)). \angle CXZ = \frac{1}{2} \left( \frac{1}{2} (360^\circ - \xi) - (\eta + \zeta) \right).

Therefore,
∠BZX=∠ZCX+∠CXZ=(ξ−ζ)/4=((ξ+η)−(ζ+η))/4=(γ−β)/2. \angle BZX = \angle ZCX + \angle CXZ = (\xi - \zeta)/4 = ((\xi + \eta) - (\zeta + \eta))/4 = (\gamma - \beta)/2.
Let the bisector of the angle CABCAB meet the side BCBC at LL. The angle ALCALC is the external angle for the triangle LBALBA, so
∠ALC=∠ABC+∠LAB=β+(90∘−(γ+β)/2)=90∘−(γ−β)/2. \angle ALC = \angle ABC + \angle LAB = \beta + (90^\circ - (\gamma + \beta)/2) = 90^\circ - (\gamma - \beta)/2.

Since\text{Since} } ∠\angle BZX + ∠\angle ALC = 90∘,90^\circ, \text{} we have } AL ⊥\perp XY.

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