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Geometry Difficulty 5.7 AIME, harder Prove it Romania

Consider a cyclic quadrilateral ABCDABCD and let MM and NN be the midpoints of the diagonals ACAC and BDBD, respectively. If AMB=AMD\angle AMB = \angle AMD, prove that ANB=BNC\angle ANB = \angle BNC.

Solutions — 2

Solution 1

(Cristian Mangra)

Lemma: Let ABCDABCD be an isosceles trapezoid (ABCDAB \parallel CD) inscribed in a circle CC of center OO, MM is the intersection point of the diagonals ACAC and BDBD, and TT is the intersection point of lines ADAD and BCBC. If the line through MM parallel to ABAB meets the circle CC at EE and FF, then TETE and TFTF are tangent to the circle.

Proof of the Lemma: Assume AB<CDAB < CD. It is clear that points TT, MM and OO are collinear. Also, AOT=12AOB=ACT\angle AOT = \frac{1}{2} \angle AOB = \angle ACT, which means that the quadrilateral TAOCTAOC is cyclic. From the power of point MM with respect to the circumcircle of triangle AOCAOC we get MAMC=MOMTMA \cdot MC = MO \cdot MT. But MAMC=MEMFMA \cdot MC = ME \cdot MF from the power of MM with respect to CC, so MOMT=MEMFMO \cdot MT = ME \cdot MF. This means that TEOFTEOF is cyclic, so TEO+TFO=180\angle TEO + \angle TFO = 180^\circ. But TEO=TFO\angle TEO = \angle TFO, hence TEO=90\angle TEO = 90^\circ, i.e., TETE is tangent to CC. \square

Figure 1

Let us now return to the problem. Denote by EE and FF the second intersection points with the circle CC of lines BEBE, and DEDE, respectively. Because MM is the midpoint of the diagonal ACAC, and angles AMBAMB and AMDAMD are equal, it follows that BDEFBDEF is an isosceles trapezoid (it is symmetric with respect to the perpendicular bisector of ACAC). Moreover, BFDEACBF \parallel DE \parallel AC. If lines BDBD and EFEF meet at TT, from the lemma it follows that TATA and TCTC are tangent to the circumcircle of ABCDABCD. If OO is the center of this circle, it follows that OATAOA \perp TA and OCTCOC \perp TC. As NN is the

midpoint of BDBD, we have ONBDON \perp BD. Thus, points A,NA, N, and CC all lie on the circle of diameter OTOT. Assume B>D\angle B > \angle D (if B<D\angle B < \angle D, simply swap BB and DD; the case B=D\angle B = \angle D is easy). In this case, ANB=AOT\angle ANB = \angle AOT, and TNC=TOC\angle TNC = \angle TOC. But AOT=COT\angle AOT = \angle COT means ANB=CNT=CNB\angle ANB = \angle CNT = \angle CNB.

Solution 2

Alternative Solution. (Given in the contest by David-Andrei Anghel.)

We only treat the case in the figure below; the other cases are similar.

Let OO be the circumcenter of triangle ABCABC. OO is on the perpendicular bisector of BDBD but also on the external bisector of angle BMDBMD (it is perpendicular to MAMA, the internal bisector of that angle). It is known that these two lines meet on the circumcircle of triangle BMDBMD (in the midpoint of the arc BMDBMD), therefore BDOMBDOM is cyclic.

We obtain that angles BMDBMD and BODBOD are equal. It follows that
BCD=12BOD=12BMD=BMA. \angle BCD = \frac{1}{2} \angle BOD = \frac{1}{2} \angle BMD = \angle BMA.
As BAM=BDC\angle BAM = \angle BDC, triangles BAMBAM and BDCBDC are similar. It follows that AMAB=CDBD\frac{AM}{AB} = \frac{CD}{BD}, which leads to ACBD=2ABCDAC \cdot BD = 2AB \cdot CD. But according to Ptolemy's Theorem,
ACBD=ABCD+BCAD, AC \cdot BD = AB \cdot CD + BC \cdot AD,
therefore ABCD=BCADAB \cdot CD = BC \cdot AD, i.e., the quadrilateral ABCDABCD is harmonic.

This leads to the similarity of triangles ANBANB and ADCADC. Also, triangles CNBCNB and CDACDA are similar. The two similarities imply
ANB=ADC=BNC. \angle ANB = \angle ADC = \angle BNC.

Figure 2

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