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Slovenia — National Math Olympiad

Geometry Difficulty 6.2 National Olympiad Prove it Slovenia

Let △ABC\triangle ABC be an acute triangle such that ∣AB∣>∣AC∣|AB| > |AC|. Let DD be a point different from CC on the segment BCBC, such that ∣AC∣=∣AD∣|AC| = |AD|. Let HH denote the orthocentre of the triangle ABCABC, and let A1,B1A_1, B_1 be the feet of the altitudes from AA and BB, respectively. The line DHDH intersects the line ACAC at EE and the line A1B1A_1B_1 at FF. Let GG be the intersection of the lines AFAF and BHBH. Prove that EG,CHEG, CH and ADAD meet at the same point.

Solution

The triangle CADCAD is isosceles since ∣AC∣=∣AD∣|AC| = |AD|. The line AA1AA_1 is the altitude in this isosceles triangle, so ∠HDA=∠ACH\angle HDA = \angle ACH. In the quadrilateral HA1CB1HA_1CB_1 we have ∠CA1H=π2=∠CB1H\angle CA_1H = \frac{\pi}{2} = \angle CB_1H, so this quadrilateral is cyclic and ∠B1A1H=∠B1CH\angle B_1A_1H = \angle B_1CH.

Figure 1

We have shown that ∠FA1A=∠B1A1H=∠B1CH=∠ACH=∠HDA=∠FDA\angle FA_1A = \angle B_1A_1H = \angle B_1CH = \angle ACH = \angle HDA = \angle FDA, so A,D,A1A, D, A_1 and FF are concyclic. This implies that ∠AFD=∠AA1D=π2\angle AFD = \angle AA_1D = \frac{\pi}{2}. The segments AB1AB_1 and HFHF are the altitudes in the triangle AHGAHG and they meet at EE. So EE is the orthocentre of this triangle and EGEG is perpendicular to AHAH. Now, AHAH is perpendicular to BCBC, so EGEG and BCBC are parallel.

Let TT denote the intersection of the lines EGEG and ADAD and let C1C_1 be the foot of the altitude to the side ABAB in the triangle ABCABC. Since ETET is parallel to CDCD, the quadrilateral TDCETDCE is in fact a trapezoid. Since ∠TDC=∠ECD\angle TDC = \angle ECD this trapezoid is isosceles. We see that ∠TCE=∠TDE=∠ADH=∠ABH=∠C1BH=∠HCE\angle TCE = \angle TDE = \angle ADH = \angle ABH = \angle C_1BH = \angle HCE, so C,HC, H and TT are collinear which was all that remained to be shown.

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