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Geometry Difficulty 4.9 AIME Prove it North Macedonia

Let AHA,BHB,CHCAH_A, BH_B, CH_C be the heights in ABC\triangle ABC. We draw perpendiculars pA,pB,pCp_A, p_B, p_C through the vertices A,B,CA, B, C to HBHC,HCHA,HAHBH_B H_C, H_C H_A, H_A H_B, respectively. Prove that pA,pB,pCp_A, p_B, p_C pass through the same point.

Solutions — 2

Solution 1

Let OO be the center of the circumscribed circle around ABC\triangle ABC. We will show that each of the lines pA,pB,pCp_A, p_B, p_C passes through OO.

Because of symmetry, it is enough to show that OCHAHBOC \perp H_A H_B.

Let DD be the point of intersection of these two lines. We restrict ourselves to the case where ABC\triangle ABC is acute (since in the case of ABC\triangle ABC being obtuse the argument is analogous). It is enough to use the fact that HACD=BCO=90α\angle H_A CD = \angle BCO = 90^\circ - \alpha and DHAC=HBHAC=α\angle DH_A C = \angle H_B H_A C = \alpha (the last equality follows from the fact that ABHAHBABH_A H_B is inscribed).

Solution 2

According to Carnot's theorem, it is sufficient (and necessary) to show that
AHB2AHC2+BHC2BHA2+CHA2CHB2=0. |AH_B|^2 - |AH_C|^2 + |BH_C|^2 - |BH_A|^2 + |CH_A|^2 - |CH_B|^2 = 0.
For that purpose, it is sufficient to sum the obvious equalities: BHC2AHC2=BC2AC2|BH_C|^2 - |AH_C|^2 = |BC|^2 - |AC|^2, CHA2BHA2=AC2AB2|CH_A|^2 - |BH_A|^2 = |AC|^2 - |AB|^2, and AHB2CHB2=AB2BC2|AH_B|^2 - |CH_B|^2 = |AB|^2 - |BC|^2.

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