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, 2023

Geometry Difficulty 8.0 National olympiad, round 2 Prove it Baltic Way

Let ABC\triangle ABC be a triangle with centroid GG. Let DD, EE and FF be the circumcenters of BCG\triangle BCG, CAG\triangle CAG and ABG\triangle ABG, respectively. The point XX is defined as the intersection of the perpendiculars from EE to ABAB and FF to ACAC. Prove that DXDX bisects the segment EFEF.

Solutions — 3

Solution 1

The two parts may be completed independently, and in the three solutions below we demonstrate different approaches to both parts, though one can create valid solutions combining either first part with either second part.
Let ωB\omega_B, ωC\omega_C denote the circumcircles of triangles ABGABG and ACGACG respectively, and the points YY and ZZ the second intersection of the line through BB parallel to ACAC and ωB\omega_B and the second intersection of the line through CC parallel to ABAB and ωC\omega_C.
The lines BYBY and CZCZ thus intersect at AA', the reflection of AA across the midpoint of BCBC, and in particular on the AA-median. Using Power of a Point from AA' with respect to the circles ωB\omega_B and ωC\omega_C we obtain

ABAY=AAAG=ACAE |A'B| \cdot |A'Y| = |A'A| \cdot |A'G| = |A'C| \cdot |A'E|
implying from the converse of Power of a Point that the quadrilateral YBCZYBCZ is cyclic. The perpendicular bisector of BYBY is orthogonal to BYACBY \parallel AC and passes through FF and thus XX as well. Similarly, the perpendicular bisector of CZCZ passes through ZZ. Hence XX is the center of circle (YBCZYBCZ) and thus on the perpendicular bisector of the line BCBC.
Let MM and NN denote the midpoints of BCBC and EFEF, respectively. To prove that NN lies on the perpendicular bisector of BCBC, let VV and WW denote the second intersections of ωB\omega_B and ωC\omega_C with the line BCBC, respectively.
From Power of a Point from MM with respect to ωB\omega_B and ωC\omega_C we obtain
MVMB=MGMA=WMCM    MV=WM |MV| \cdot |MB| = |MG| \cdot |MA| = |WM| \cdot |CM| \implies |MV| = |WM|
so MM is the midpoint of the segment VWVW. Let EE', NN', FF' denote the projections of EE, NN and FF onto BCBC respectively. Since NN is the midpoint of EFEF, NN' will be the midpoint of EFE'F'.
Moreover, from the fact that EE and FF are the centers of ωB\omega_B and ωC\omega_C we get that EE' and FF' are the midpoints of BVBV and WCWC, and hence MM is the midpoint EFE'F' as well, implying N=MN' = M and that NN is on the perpendicular bisector of BCBC.

Solution 2

Let GG' denote the reflection of GG across the midpoint of BCBC. We begin by proving that triangles ABCABC and DFEDFE are orthological, with orthology centers GG' and XX.
Observe that GG' is on the AA-median and thus AGEFAG' \perp EF. Furthermore, quadrilateral BGCGBGCG' is a parallelogram and hence BGCGDEBG' \parallel CG \perp DE and CGBGDFCG' \parallel BG \perp DF. Hence, GG' is the first orthology center of ABC\triangle ABC and DFE\triangle DFE.

Thus, by the property of orthological triangle, the second orthology center must exist, which is defined as the common intersection of the normal from DD to BCBC, EE to ABAB and FF to ACAC, i.e. the point XX. Since DD is on the perpendicular bisector of BCBC, by virtue of being the circumcenter of triangle BGCBGC, and XDBCXD \perp BC so must point XX.
Moreover, let OO denote the circumcenter of triangle ABCABC. Then EOACFXEO \perp AC \perp FX implies EOFXEO \parallel FX and FOABEXFO \perp AB \perp EX implies FOEXFO \parallel EX, meaning that quadrilateral FOEXFOEX is a parallelogram. Hence, the midpoint of EFEF lies on the line XODXOD i.e. the perpendicular bisector of segment BCBC.

Solution 3

Let MM be the midpoint of BCBC. Let NN be the intersection of EFEF and DMDM. We claim that NN is the midpoint of EFEF.
Namely, we have DENCGM\triangle DEN \sim \triangle CGM because corresponding pairs of sides are orthogonal. Similarly, DFNBGM\triangle DFN \sim \triangle BGM. Hence proving that EN=FN|EN| = |FN|, as desired.

Next, let XX' resp. XX'' denote the intersection of DNDN with the perpendicular from EE to ABAB resp. the perpendicular from FF to ACAC. Just as above we have ENXAMB\triangle ENX' \sim \triangle AMB and FNXAMC\triangle FNX'' \sim AMC, thus
This shows that X=X=XX = X' = X'' lies on DNDN.
Remark: That the medians of triangle DEFDEF coincide with the perpendicular bisectors of triangle ABCABC implies that the centroid

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