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Saudi Arabian Mathematical Competitions

Geometry Difficulty 6.6 National Olympiad Prove it Saudi Arabia

Let ABCABC be an acute, non-isosceles triangle which is inscribed in a circle (O)(O). A point II belongs to the segment BCBC. Denote by HH and KK the projections of II on ABAB and ACAC, respectively. Suppose that the line HKHK intersects (O)(O) at M,NM, N (HH is between M,KM, K and KK is between H,NH, N). Let X,YX, Y be the centers of the circles (ABK),(ACH)(ABK), (ACH) respectively. Prove the following assertions:

1. If II is the projection of AA on BCBC, then AA is the center of circle (IMN)(IMN).

2. If XY∥BCXY \parallel BC, then the orthocenter of XOYXOY is the midpoint of IOIO.

Solution

1) We will use the inversion to solve this problem.
Note that △AHI∼△AIB\triangle AHI \sim \triangle AIB and that △AKI∼△AIC\triangle AKI \sim \triangle AIC, hence
AI2=AH⋅AB=AK⋅AC=:k. AI^{2} = AH \cdot AB = AK \cdot AC =: k.
Let ff be the inversion with center AA and power kk. Then
f(I)=I, f(H)=B, f(B)=H, f(K)=C, f(C)=K. f(I) = I,\ f(H) = B,\ f(B) = H,\ f(K) = C,\ f(C) = K.
So this inversion sends the line HKHK to (O)(O), which implies that the intersection of HKHK and (O)(O) are fixed points under ff.
Therefore, AM2=AN2=k=AI2AM^{2} = AN^{2} = k = AI^{2}; therefore, AA is the center of the circle (IMN)(IMN).

Figure 1

2) First, we will prove the following lemma: Let DD be a point on the segment BCBC and HH be the projection of DD on ACAC. Suppose that II is the circumcenter of triangle ABHABH. Denote by M,NM, N the midpoints of AB,ACAB, AC respectively. Let MNMN meet ADAD at KK. Then IK⊥ACIK \perp AC.

Denote by LL the projection of BB on ACAC. It is easy to see that I,M,OI, M, O are collinear. Further,
∠AIM=∠LHB, ∠AOM=∠LCB, \angle AIM = \angle LHB,\ \angle AOM = \angle LCB,
hence △AIM∼△BHL\triangle AIM \sim \triangle BHL and △AOM∼△CBL\triangle AOM \sim \triangle CBL.

Figure 2

It follows that
IMIO=LHLC=BDBC=MKMN; \frac{IM}{IO} = \frac{LH}{LC} = \frac{BD}{BC} = \frac{MK}{MN};
which implies that IK∥ONIK \parallel ON, i.e. IK⊥ACIK \perp AC.

Going back to the original problem, we denote by B′,C′B', C' the midpoints of AB,ACAB, AC and by ZZ the intersection of B′C′B'C' and AIAI.

Figure 3

Applying the lemma, we have XZ∥OC′XZ \parallel OC' and YZ∥OB′YZ \parallel OB'; therefore, OXZYOXZY is a parallelogram.
Hence, OZOZ passes through the midpoint of XYXY. But XY∥B′C′XY \parallel B'C', so ZZ is the midpoint of B′C′B'C' and XYXY is a medial line of triangle OB′C′OB'C'.

On the other hand, B′C′∥BCB'C' \parallel BC, hence II is the midpoint of BCBC.
Let TT be the midpoint of the segment OIOI. Then XT∥B′I∥ACXT \parallel B'I \parallel AC. But OC′⊥ACOC' \perp AC, thus OY⊥XTOY \perp XT.
Similarly, OX⊥YTOX \perp YT. Therefore, TT is the orthocenter of triangle XOYXOY.

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