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Geometry Difficulty 6.1 National Olympiad Prove it JBMO

Problem:

Let ABCABC be an acute triangle such that AH=HDAH = HD, where HH is the orthocenter of ABCABC and DBCD \in BC is the foot of the altitude from the vertex AA. Let \ell denote the line through HH which is tangent to the circumcircle of the triangle BHCBHC. Let SS and TT be the intersection points of \ell with ABAB and ACAC, respectively. Denote the midpoints of BHBH and CHCH by MM and NN, respectively. Prove that the lines SMSM and TNTN are parallel.

Solutions — 2

Solution 1

Solution:

In order to prove that SMSM and TNTN are parallel, it suffices to prove that both of them are perpendicular to STST. Due to symmetry, we will provide a detailed proof of SMSTSM \perp ST, whereas the proof of TNSTTN \perp ST is analogous. In this solution we will use the following notation: BAC=α\angle BAC = \alpha, ABC=β\angle ABC = \beta, ACB=γ\angle ACB = \gamma.

Figure 1

We first observe that, due to the tangency condition, we have
SHB=HCB=90β \angle SHB = \angle HCB = 90^\circ - \beta
Combining the above with
SBH=ABH=90α \angle SBH = \angle ABH = 90^\circ - \alpha
we get
BSH=180(90β)(90α)=α+β=180γ \angle BSH = 180^\circ - (90^\circ - \beta) - (90^\circ - \alpha) = \alpha + \beta = 180^\circ - \gamma
from which it follows that AST=γ\angle AST = \gamma.

Since AH=HDAH = HD, HH is the midpoint of ADAD. If KK denotes the midpoint of ABAB, we have that KHKH and BCBC are parallel. Since MM is the midpoint of BHBH, the lines KMKM and ADAD are parallel, from which it follows that KMKM is perpendicular to BCBC. As KHKH and BCBC are parallel, we have that KMKM is perpendicular to KHKH so MKH=90\angle MKH = 90^\circ. Using the parallel lines KHKH and BCBC we also have
KHM=KHB=HBC \angle KHM = \angle KHB = \angle HBC
Now,
HMK=90KHM=90HBC=90(90γ)=γ=AST=KSH \angle HMK = 90^\circ - \angle KHM = 90^\circ - \angle HBC = 90^\circ - (90^\circ - \gamma) = \gamma = \angle AST = \angle KSH
so the quadrilateral MSKHMSKH is cyclic, which implies that MSH=MKH=90\angle MSH = \angle MKH = 90^\circ. In other words, the lines SMSM and STST are perpendicular, which completes our proof.

Solution 2

Solution:

We will refer to the same figure as in the first solution. Since CHCH is tangent to the circumcircle of triangle BHCBHC, we have
SHB=HCB=90ABC=HAB \angle SHB = \angle HCB = 90^\circ - \angle ABC = \angle HAB
From the above it follows that triangles AHBAHB and HSBHSB are similar. If KK denotes the midpoint of ABAB, then triangles AHKAHK and HSMHSM are also similar. Now, observe that HH and KK are respectively the midpoints of ADAD and ABAB, which implies that HKDBHK \parallel DB, so
AHK=ADB=90 \angle AHK = \angle ADB = 90^\circ
Now, from the last observation and the similarity of triangles AHKAHK and HSMHSM, it follows that
HSM=AHK=90 \angle HSM = \angle AHK = 90^\circ
Due to symmetry, analogously as above, we can prove that HTN=90\angle HTN = 90^\circ, implying that both SMSM and TNTN are perpendicular to TSTS, hence they are parallel.

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