Maths Olympiad Prep

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Geometry Difficulty 6.8 National olympiad Prove it South Africa

Let ABCABC be a triangle with ABC90\angle ABC \ne 90^\circ and ABAB its shortest side. Denote by HH the intersection of the altitudes of triangle ABCABC. Let KK be the circle through AA with centre BB. Let DD be the other intersection of KK and ACAC. Let KK intersect the circumcircle of BCDBCD again at EE. If FF is the intersection of DEDE and BHBH, show that BDBD is tangent to the circle through D,FD, F and HH.

Solution

Consider Figure 2:

Figure 1
Figure 2

We note that HH must also be on VV, the circumcircle of triangle BDCBDC. This is because triangles BLHBLH and BMDBMD are similar (note that triangle ABDABD is iscoceles, with BA=BDBA = BD, and BMBM is a perpendicular bisector of ADAD, that also bisects ABD\angle ABD), implying that angles BHCBHC and BDCBDC are equal, showing that BHDCBHDC is a cyclic quadrilateral.

Let OO be the centre of WW, the circumcircle of triangle HDFHDF and drop the perpendicular from OO to DFDF, with foot PP. Put θ=DOP\theta = \angle DOP, so that DOF=2θ\angle DOF = 2\theta, giving DHF=θ\angle DHF = \theta. Since HMHM is a perpendicular bisector of ADAD, and HA=HDHA = HD, it follows that HAC=90θ\angle HAC = 90^\circ - \theta. Thus, ACN=θ\angle ACN = \theta. But the chords BDBD and BEBE of circle VV have equal length (since they are both radii of circle KK), hence subtend the same angle in circle VV, giving BCE=θ\angle BCE = \theta. But then BDE=θ\angle BDE = \theta, so that FDR=θ\angle FDR = \theta, where RR is an arbitrary point on the line through BB and DD, with RR and BB on opposites sides of DD.

Finally, since ODP=90θ\angle ODP = 90^\circ - \theta, we conclude that ODR=90\angle ODR = 90^\circ, i.e. the line through BB and DD must be tangent to WW, at the point DD.

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Source: MathNet, licensed CC-BY-4.0. Statement and solution reproduced as published; topic and difficulty added by this site.