Maths Olympiad Prep

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Geometry Difficulty 5.0 AIME Prove it United States

Problem:

Let ABCABC be a triangle with incenter II. The incircle of ABCABC is tangent to sides BCBC, CACA, ABAB at DD, EE, FF. Let HH denote the orthocenter of triangle BICBIC, and let PP denote the midpoint of the altitude from DD to EFEF. Prove that HPHP bisects EFEF.

Solution

Solution:

Without loss of generality, ABACAB \leq AC. Let B1B_1 and C1C_1 be the projections of CC and BB onto lines BIBI and CICI, respectively. Then IEC=IB1C=90\angle IEC = \angle IB_1C = 90^{\circ}, so quadrilateral IEB1CIEB_1C is cyclic. But then
B1EC=B1IC=180BIC=180FEC \angle B_1EC = \angle B_1IC = 180^{\circ} - \angle BIC = 180^{\circ} - \angle FEC
and so we find that B1B_1 lies on line EFEF. Similarly, C1C_1 lies on line EFEF.

Observe that II is the orthocenter of triangle HBCHBC. Then it is well-known that II is the incenter of triangle DB1C1DB_1C_1. Moreover, HH is the intersection of the external angle bisectors of DC1B1\angle DC_1B_1 and DB1C1\angle DB_1C_1. So it is the center of the circle Γ\Gamma tangent to B1C1B_1C_1 and the extensions of rays DB1DB_1 and DC1DC_1 past B1B_1 and C1C_1.

Let NN be the foot of the altitude from II to B1C1\overline{B_1C_1}, noting that NN is in fact the midpoint of EF\overline{EF}. Let KK be the tangency point of the Ω\Omega to B1C1\overline{B_1C_1}. Consider the homothety which takes the incircle of DB1C1\triangle DB_1C_1 to the circle Γ\Gamma; it sends NN to the point diametrically opposite KK on Ω\Omega. Call this point LL; we see D,N,LD, N, L are collinear by the homothety mentioned. Moreover, M,N,KM, N, K are collinear. As HH is the midpoint of KL\overline{KL} and PP is the midpoint of DM\overline{DM}, it follows that the points H,N,PH, N, P are collinear, which is what we wanted to prove.

Figure 1

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