On the small arc AB of the circumcircle of the equilateral triangle ABC we consider a point N such that the length of the arc NB is 30∘. Consider the perpendicular lines from N to AC and AB, respectively. These lines intersect again the circumcircle of the triangle ABC in points M and I, respectively.
a) Prove that IMN is an equilateral triangle.
b) If H1,H2, and H3 are the orthocenters of the triangles NAB,IBC, and CAM, respectively, prove that H1H2H3 is an equilateral triangle.
Solution
a) Let O be the circumcenter of the triangle ABC. Without loss of generality, we consider O(0), while the vertices of the triangle are A(1), B(ε), and C(ε2), where ε=−21+i23. Because the length of the arc NB is 30∘, we have AO⊥ON, so point N has the affix i. Moreover, NI⊥AB implies the existence of α∈R∗ such that: 1−εi−zI=iα⇒zI=i−23iα−23α, where zI is the affix of the point I. From ∣zI∣=1 we obtain α=1, so the affix of the point I is iε. In the same manner, from MN⊥AC we obtain that the affix of the point M is iε2, so the triangle IMN is equilateral.
b) Using Sylvester's theorem we have the affixes of the orthocenters as follows: zH1zH2zH3=zA+zN+zB=i+1+ε,=zB+zM+zC=ε+iε+ε2=εzH1,=zC+zI+zA=ε2+iε2+1=ε2zH1, so the triangle H1H2H3 is equilateral.
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