Maths Olympiad Prep

Library / /6 of 18

Geometry Difficulty 6.5 National olympiad Prove it Argentina

Let ABCDABCD be a convex quadrilateral with AB>ADAB > AD and B=D=90\angle B = \angle D = 90^\circ. Let PP be the point on side ABAB such that AP=ADAP = AD. Lines PDPD and BCBC intersect at QQ. The perpendicular line to ACAC through QQ intersects ABAB at RR. Let SS be the foot of the perpendicular from DD to ACAC. Prove that PSQ=RCP\angle PSQ = \angle RCP.

Solution

Let T=QRACT = QR \cap AC and V=QSABV = QS \cap AB. First, note that from AP=ADAP = AD, we have APD=ADP\angle APD = \angle ADP. So
CQP=90QPB=90APD=90ADP=QDC, \angle CQP = 90^\circ - \angle QPB = 90^\circ - \angle APD = 90^\circ - \angle ADP = \angle QDC,
and hence CQ=CDCQ = CD. Now, by metric relations in the right triangle DACDAC, we have AD2=ASACAD^2 = AS \cdot AC, then AP2=ASACAP^2 = AS \cdot AC and thus APSACP\triangle APS \sim \triangle ACP, where APS=ACP\angle APS = \angle ACP. In a similar fashion we get CQ2=CD2=CSCACQ^2 = CD^2 = CS \cdot CA, which implies CQS=CAQ\angle CQS = \angle CAQ.
Observe that QATBQATB is a cyclic quadrilateral because QBA=QTA=90\angle QBA = \angle QTA = 90^\circ. Hence CQS=CAQ=CBT\angle CQS = \angle CAQ = \angle CBT, i.e., SQTBSQ \parallel TB. Therefore, AVS=ABT\angle AVS = \angle ABT. But AVS=APS+PSQ\angle AVS = \angle APS + \angle PSQ, and ABT=RBT=RCT\angle ABT = \angle RBT = \angle RCT (cyclic RBCTRBCT). Putting all together we get
APS+PSQ=RCT=RCP+ACPPSQ=RCP. \angle APS + \angle PSQ = \angle RCT = \angle RCP + \angle ACP \Rightarrow \angle PSQ = \angle RCP.

Figure 1

Want a route through all this instead of an archive? The track puts 2,000 problems in a working order, from AMC 10 level to the IMO shortlist.

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