Maths Olympiad Prep

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Geometry Difficulty 7.6 National Olympiad, round 2 Prove it Romanian Master of Mathematics (RMM)

Problem:

Let T1T_{1}, T2T_{2}, T3T_{3}, T4T_{4} be pairwise distinct collinear points such that T2T_{2} lies between T1T_{1} and T3T_{3}, and T3T_{3} lies between T2T_{2} and T4T_{4}. Let ω1\omega_{1} be a circle through T1T_{1} and T4T_{4}; let ω2\omega_{2} be the circle through T2T_{2} and internally tangent to ω1\omega_{1} at T1T_{1}; let ω3\omega_{3} be the circle through T3T_{3} and externally tangent to ω2\omega_{2} at T2T_{2}; and let ω4\omega_{4} be the circle through T4T_{4} and externally tangent to ω3\omega_{3} at T3T_{3}. A line crosses ω1\omega_{1} at PP and WW, ω2\omega_{2} at QQ and RR, ω3\omega_{3} at SS and TT, and ω4\omega_{4} at UU and VV, the order of these points along the line being P,Q,R,S,T,U,V,WP, Q, R, S, T, U, V, W. Prove that PQ+TU=RS+VWPQ + TU = RS + VW.

Solution

Solution:

Let OiO_{i} be the centre of ωi\omega_{i}, i=1,2,3,4i=1,2,3,4. Notice that the isosceles triangles OiTiTi1O_{i} T_{i} T_{i-1} are similar (indices are reduced modulo 44), to infer that ω4\omega_{4} is internally tangent to ω1\omega_{1} at T4T_{4}, and O1O2O3O4O_{1} O_{2} O_{3} O_{4} is a (possibly degenerate) parallelogram.

Let FiF_{i} be the foot of the perpendicular from OiO_{i} to PWPW. The FiF_{i} clearly bisect the segments PWPW, QRQR, STST and UVUV, respectively.

The proof can now be concluded in two similar ways.

Figure 1

First Approach. Since O1O2O3O4O_{1} O_{2} O_{3} O_{4} is a parallelogram, F1F2+F3F4=0\overrightarrow{F_{1} F_{2}} + \overrightarrow{F_{3} F_{4}} = \mathbf{0} and F2F3+F4F1=0\overrightarrow{F_{2} F_{3}} + \overrightarrow{F_{4} F_{1}} = \mathbf{0}; this still holds in the degenerate case, for if the OiO_{i} are collinear, then they all lie on the line T1T4T_{1} T_{4}, and each OiO_{i} is the midpoint of the segment TiTi+1T_{i} T_{i+1}. Consequently,

PQRS+TUVW=(PF1+F1F2+F2Q)(RF2+F2F3+F3S)+(TF3+F3F4+F4U)(VF4+F4F1+F1W)=(PF1F1W)(RF2F2Q)+(TF3F3S)(VF4F4U)+(F1F2+F3F4)(F2F3+F4F1)=0 \begin{aligned} \overrightarrow{PQ} - \overrightarrow{RS} + \overrightarrow{TU} - \overrightarrow{VW} = & \left(\overrightarrow{P F_{1}} + \overrightarrow{F_{1} F_{2}} + \overrightarrow{F_{2} Q}\right) - \left(\overrightarrow{R F_{2}} + \overrightarrow{F_{2} F_{3}} + \overrightarrow{F_{3} S}\right) \\ & + \left(\overrightarrow{T F_{3}} + \overrightarrow{F_{3} F_{4}} + \overrightarrow{F_{4} U}\right) - \left(\overrightarrow{V F_{4}} + \overrightarrow{F_{4} F_{1}} + \overrightarrow{F_{1} W}\right) \\ = & \left(\overrightarrow{P F_{1}} - \overrightarrow{F_{1} W}\right) - \left(\overrightarrow{R F_{2}} - \overrightarrow{F_{2} Q}\right) + \left(\overrightarrow{T F_{3}} - \overrightarrow{F_{3} S}\right) - \left(\overrightarrow{V F_{4}} - \overrightarrow{F_{4} U}\right) \\ & + \left(\overrightarrow{F_{1} F_{2}} + \overrightarrow{F_{3} F_{4}}\right) - \left(\overrightarrow{F_{2} F_{3}} + \overrightarrow{F_{4} F_{1}}\right) = \mathbf{0} \end{aligned}

Alternatively, but equivalently, PQ+TU=RS+VW\overrightarrow{PQ} + \overrightarrow{TU} = \overrightarrow{RS} + \overrightarrow{VW}, as required.

Second Approach. This is merely another way of reading the previous argument. Fix an orientation of the line PWPW, say, from PP towards WW, and use a lower case letter to denote the coordinate of a point labelled by the corresponding upper case letter.

Since the diagonals of a parallelogram bisect one another, f1+f3=f2+f4f_{1} + f_{3} = f_{2} + f_{4}, the common value being twice the coordinate of the projection to PWPW of the point where O1O3O_{1} O_{3} and O2O4O_{2} O_{4} cross; the relation clearly holds in the degenerate case as well.

Plug f1=12(p+w)f_{1} = \frac{1}{2}(p + w), f2=12(q+r)f_{2} = \frac{1}{2}(q + r), f3=12(s+t)f_{3} = \frac{1}{2}(s + t) and f4=12(u+v)f_{4} = \frac{1}{2}(u + v) into the above equality to get p+w+s+t=q+r+u+vp + w + s + t = q + r + u + v. Alternatively, but equivalently, (qp)+(ut)=(sr)+(wv)(q - p) + (u - t) = (s - r) + (w - v), that is, PQ+TU=RS+VWPQ + TU = RS + VW, as required.

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