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Geometry Difficulty 6.3 National olympiad Prove it Belarus

Point MM is the midpoint of the side ABAB of the acute-angled triangle ABCABC, points PP and QQ are the feet of the altitudes APAP and BQBQ. A circle passing through B,M,PB, M, P, touches the side ACAC. Prove that a circle passing through A,M,QA, M, Q touches the extension of the side BCBC.

(I. Voronovich)

Solution

First solution. Let Γ\Gamma be a circle passing through M,P,BM, P, B. Let Γ\Gamma touch the side ACAC at SS, and TT be the intersection of the lines MSMS and BCBC. Since point SS lies on the side ACAC, it follows that TT lies on the extension of the side BCBC (over CC).

Figure 1

Since AM=MB=MPAM = MB = MP and MSPBMSPB is an inscribed quadrilateral, we see that MBP=MPB=MSB=β\angle MBP = \angle MPB = \angle MSB = \beta, MBS=ASM=TSC=φ\angle MBS = \angle ASM = \angle TSC = \varphi. Let CAB=α\angle CAB = \alpha. From the triangle ASBASB we have α+β+2φ=π\alpha + \beta + 2\varphi = \pi. Since SMB\angle SMB is an external angle of ASM\triangle ASM, we have SMB=α+φ\angle SMB = \alpha + \varphi. Hence MTB=π(α+φ)β=φ\angle MTB = \pi - (\alpha + \varphi) - \beta = \varphi. Thus, CTS=CST(=φ)\angle CTS = \angle CST(= \varphi), so CS=CTCS = CT. By Menelaus' theorem (ACB\triangle ACB and points M,S,TM, S, T),
AMMBBTTCCSSA=1    BT=SA. \frac{AM}{MB} \cdot \frac{BT}{TC} \cdot \frac{CS}{SA} = 1 \iff BT = SA.
By the power of point theorem, BT2=AS2=AMAB=BMBABT^2 = AS^2 = AM \cdot AB = BM \cdot BA. It is equivalent to the fact that BTBT is tangent to Γ1\Gamma_1, passing through A,M,TA, M, T. Let QQ' be the intersection point of Γ1\Gamma_1 and the line ACAC. Since Γ1\Gamma_1 touches the line BTBT, we see that QQ' lies on the side ACAC (not on the extension). Further
AM+QT=2TSC=2φ=2STC==[TC is tangent to Γ1]=MQT    MA+QT=MQT=MQ+QT    AM=MQ. \begin{align*} \sim AM + \sim Q'T &= 2\angle TSC = 2\varphi = 2\angle STC = \\ &= [TC \text{ is tangent to } \Gamma_1] = \sim MQ'T \iff \\ \sim MA + \sim Q'T &= \sim MQ'T = \sim MQ' + \sim Q'T \iff \sim AM = \sim MQ'. \end{align*}

So AM=MQAM = MQ' (chords subtending the equal arcs). Therefore, BM=AM=MQBM = AM = MQ', which gives that AQBAQ'B is a right-angled triangle (AQB=90\angle AQ'B = 90^\circ). Thus BQACBQ' \perp AC, i.e. points QQ and QQ' coincide, which completes the proof.

Second solution. Let Γ\Gamma be a circle passing through M,P,BM, P, B. Let Γ\Gamma touch the side ACAC at SS. Since APBAPB and AQBAQB are right-angled triangles, we have MA=MB=MQ=MPMA = MB = MQ = MP, so A,Q,P,BA, Q, P, B lie on the circle Γ0\Gamma_0 with the center at MM. Consider the inversion (with MM as center) with respect to Γ0\Gamma_0. Since Γ\Gamma passes through the center of the inversion, its image is a line \ell, but BB and PP are fixed points, the line \ell coincide with the line BCBC. Similarly, the image of the line ACAC (MACM \notin AC) is a circle Γ1\Gamma_1 passing through A,Q,MA, Q, M, since AA and QQ are fixed points.
Therefore, SS as the tangency point of Γ\Gamma and the side ACAC is transformed to SS' which is the tangency point of the line BCBC and Γ1\Gamma_1. To complete the proof, it suffices to note that SS' lies on the ray MSMS, i.e. is the intersection point of the ray MSMS and the line BCBC. Since SS lies on the side ACAC, we see that SS' lies on the extension of the side BCBC (over CC).

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