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Team Selection Test for IMO, 2007

Geometry Difficulty 7.5 National Olympiad, round 2 Prove it Turkey

Let AA and BB be distinct points on a circle Γ\Gamma. For a variable point PP different from AA and BB on Γ\Gamma, find the geometric locus of the point MM such that PMPM is the opposite ray to the angle bisector of ∠APB\angle APB and MP=AP+PBMP = AP + PB.

Solution

Draw the diameter DLDL perpendicular to the secant ABAB. Let α=∠LDA=∠LDB\alpha = \angle LDA = \angle LDB. Assume that the point PP lies on the arc ALBALB and between the points AA and LL, and let β=∠LDP\beta = \angle LDP. Also let KK be the point of intersection of the line LDLD and the perpendicular to the line DMDM through MM.
Let RR be the radius of Γ\Gamma. We have PD=2Rcos⁡βPD = 2R \cos \beta. Moreover, since ∠PAB=∠PDB=∠PDL+∠LDB=β+α\angle PAB = \angle PDB = \angle PDL + \angle LDB = \beta + \alpha, and ∠PBA=∠PDA=∠LDA−∠LDP=α−β\angle PBA = \angle PDA = \angle LDA - \angle LDP = \alpha - \beta, we have PB=2Rsin⁡(α+β)PB = 2R \sin(\alpha + \beta) and AP=2Rsin⁡(α−β)AP = 2R \sin(\alpha - \beta). Then
MD=MP+PD=AP+PB+PD=2R(sin⁡(α−β)+sin⁡(α+β)+cos⁡β)=2Rcos⁡β(1+2sin⁡α), \begin{aligned} MD &= MP + PD = AP + PB + PD \\ &= 2R(\sin(\alpha - \beta) + \sin(\alpha + \beta) + \cos \beta) \\ &= 2R \cos \beta (1 + 2 \sin \alpha), \end{aligned}
and KD=MD/cos⁡β=2R(1+2sin⁡α)KD = MD / \cos \beta = 2R (1 + 2 \sin \alpha).
This means that the point KK does not depend on the point PP, and as the point PP varies on the arc ALBALB, the point MM traces the arc of the circle with diameter DKDK lying inside ∠ADB\angle ADB.

Figure 1

Similarly, if K′K' is the point lying on the line LDLD and on the same side of the line ABAB as DD, and satisfying the condition K′L=2R(1+2sin⁡(90∘−α))K'L = 2R(1 + 2\sin(90^\circ - \alpha)); then as the point PP varies on the arc ADBADB, the point MM traces the arc of the circle with diameter K′LK'L lying inside ∠ALB\angle ALB.

Geometric locus is the union of these two arcs.

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