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Geometry Difficulty 8.6 Shortlist Prove it Romania

Let ABCABC be an acute triangle with AB<ACAB < AC, let OO be its circumcentre and let AA' be the reflection of AA in BCBC. The parallel through OO to BCBC crosses ACAC at FF, and the tangent at FF to circle BFCBFC crosses the parallel through AA' to BCBC at MM. Consider the point KK on the ray ABAB, emanating from AA, such that AK=4ABAK = 4AB. Prove that the orthocentre of the triangle ABCABC lies on the circle on diameter KMKM.

Radu Lecoiu

Solution

Let HH be the orthocentre of triangle ABCABC, let NN be the midpoint of the segment AHAH and let DD the foot of the perpendicular from BB to ACAC. We first prove that BNF=90\angle BNF = 90^\circ. Let FF' be the intersection of line ACAC and the perpendicular at NN to BNBN. The points B,N,DB, N, D, and FF' lie on the circle on diameter BFBF, so
NBF=ADN=DAN=90BCA=ABO, \angle NBF' = \angle ADN = \angle DAN = 90^\circ - \angle BCA = \angle ABO,
where the second equality holds on account of DNDN being median in the right triangle ADHADH. Since NBF=ABO\angle NBF' = \angle ABO, lines BNBN and BOBO are isogonal with respect to angle ABF\angle ABF. Similarly, lines AOAO and ANAN are isogonal with respect to angle BAC\angle BAC,

AFO=BFN=BDN=NHD=ACB. \angle AF'O = \angle BF'N = \angle BDN = \angle NHD = \angle ACB.
Hence OFBCOF' \parallel BC, so FFF \equiv F', showing that BNF=90\angle BNF = 90^\circ.

Next, we prove that N,FN, F and MM are collinear. Since FFF \equiv F', points OO and NN are isogonal conjugates in triangle ABFABF, so
NFB=AFO=ACB. \angle NFB = \angle AFO = \angle ACB.
This implies NFNF is tangent to circle BFCBFC and hence N,F,MN, F, M are collinear, as desired.
Let ABAB and AMA'M cross at EE. Note that EE is the reflection of AA across BB. Since AK=4ABAK = 4AB, point EE is the midpoint of the segment AKAK. In triangle AEHAEH, line BNBN is a midline, so BNEHBN \parallel EH. As BNBN and NMNM are perpendicular, so are EHEH and NMNM. Moreover, NHEMNH \perp EM, hence HH is the orthocentre of the triangle ENMENM, implying MHENMH \perp EN. Finally, in triangle AKHAKH, line ENEN is a midline, so ENKHEN \parallel KH and hence MHKHMH \perp KH; that is, HH lies on the circle on diameter KMKM, as required.

Alternative solution for BNF=90\angle BNF = 90^\circ. We use the same notations as in the previous solution. Consider the foot PP of the perpendicular from FF to BCBC. Then
2AN=2NH=AH=2dist(O,BC)=2dist(F,BC)=2FP, 2AN = 2NH = AH = 2 \operatorname{dist}(O, BC) = 2 \operatorname{dist}(F, BC) = 2FP,
so the segments NHNH and FPFP are parallel and have equal lengths, implying that NFPHNFPH is a parallelogram. Similarly, ANPFANPF is also a parallelogram. Therefore, HBNPHB \perp NP, and since NHBCNH \perp BC, we deduce that HH is the orthocentre of the triangle BNPBNP. Consequently, HPBNHP \perp BN, and since HPNFHP \parallel NF, it follows that BNF=90\angle BNF = 90^\circ.

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