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Geometry Difficulty 5.8 AIME, harder Prove it Saudi Arabia

The squares OABCOAB C and OA1B1C1OA_{1}B_{1}C_{1} are situated in the same plane and are directly oriented. Prove that the lines AA1AA_{1}, BB1BB_{1}, and CC1CC_{1} are concurrent.

Solution

Let AA1CC1={M}AA_{1} \cap CC_{1} = \{M\}. We have AOA1COC1\triangle AOA_{1} \equiv \triangle COC_{1} (S.A.S.), then AA1O^MA1O^CC1O^\widehat{AA_{1}O} \equiv \widehat{MA_{1}O} \equiv \widehat{CC_{1}O}. It follows that A1C1MOA_{1}C_{1}MO is cyclic, hence A1MC^A1OC1^=90\widehat{A_{1}MC} \equiv \widehat{A_{1}OC_{1}} = 90^{\circ}, that is A1MCC1A_{1}M \perp CC_{1}.

The quadrilateral A1B1C1MA_{1}B_{1}C_{1}M is cyclic, then A1MB1^A1C1B1^=45\widehat{A_{1}MB_{1}} \equiv \widehat{A_{1}C_{1}B_{1}} = 45^{\circ}.

The quadrilateral AOCMAOCM is cyclic, hence we have OMC^OAC^=45\widehat{OMC} \equiv \widehat{OAC} = 45^{\circ} and AMO^ACO^=45\widehat{AMO} \equiv \widehat{ACO} = 45^{\circ}.

The quadrilateral OBMCOBMC is cyclic, since OMC^OBC^=45\widehat{OMC} \equiv \widehat{OBC} = 45^{\circ}. It follows OMB^=90\widehat{OMB} = 90^{\circ}.

Figure 1

We have
A1MB^=OMB^AMO^=9045=45, \widehat{A_{1}MB} = \widehat{OMB} - \widehat{AMO} = 90^{\circ} - 45^{\circ} = 45^{\circ},

hence A1MB1^=AMB^=45\widehat{A_{1}MB_{1}} = \widehat{AMB} = 45^{\circ}, that is points M,B,B1M, B, B_{1} are collinear. It follows that the lines AA1AA_{1}, BB1BB_{1}, CC1CC_{1} are concurrent.

Solution 2:

We use complex coordinates. Assume that the origin of the complex plane is at OO and we have A(1)A(1), B(1+i)B(1+i), C(i)C(i). If A1(a1)A_{1}(a_{1}), then C1(a1i)C_{1}(a_{1}i) and B1(a1(1+i))B_{1}(a_{1}(1+i)). As in the previous solution, consider AA1CC1={M}AA_{1} \cap CC_{1} = \{M\}, and M(m)M(m). The points A1,A,MA_{1}, A, M are collinear if and only if
ma11a1R \frac{m-a_{1}}{1-a_{1}} \in \mathbb{R}^{*}
That is equivalent to
ma11a1=mˉaˉ11aˉ1. \begin{equation*} \frac{m-a_{1}}{1-a_{1}} = \frac{\bar{m}-\bar{a}_{1}}{1-\bar{a}_{1}} . \tag{1} \end{equation*}
The points C1,C,MC_{1}, C, M are collinear if and only if
ma1iia1iR \frac{m-a_{1}i}{i-a_{1}i} \in \mathbb{R}^{*}
hence
ma1iia1i=mˉ+aˉ1ii+aˉ1i \begin{equation*} \frac{m-a_{1}i}{i-a_{1}i} = \frac{\bar{m}+\bar{a}_{1}i}{-i+\bar{a}_{1}i} \tag{2} \end{equation*}
From (1) and (2) we get
m=12[(1+i)aˉ1(1a1)1aˉ1+(1+i)a1]=1+i2a1aˉ11aˉ1. m = \frac{1}{2}\left[-\frac{(1+i)\bar{a}_{1}(1-a_{1})}{1-\bar{a}_{1}} + (1+i)a_{1}\right] = \frac{1+i}{2} \cdot \frac{a_{1}-\bar{a}_{1}}{1-\bar{a}_{1}} .
We have only to show that the points B1,B,MB_{1}, B, M are collinear. That is
ma1(1+i)1+ia1(1+i)R \frac{m-a_{1}(1+i)}{1+i-a_{1}(1+i)} \in \mathbb{R}^{*}
Indeed,
ma1(1+i)1+ia1(1+i)=12a1aˉ11aˉ1a11a1=a1+aˉ1a1aˉ12(1a1)(1aˉ1)R \begin{gathered} \frac{m-a_{1}(1+i)}{1+i-a_{1}(1+i)} = \frac{\frac{1}{2} \cdot \frac{a_{1}-\bar{a}_{1}}{1-\bar{a}_{1}} - a_{1}}{1-a_{1}} \\ = -\frac{a_{1}+\bar{a}_{1}-a_{1}\bar{a}_{1}}{2(1-a_{1})(1-\bar{a}_{1})} \in \mathbb{R}^{*} \end{gathered}

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