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Geometry Difficulty 8.8 Shortlist Prove it IMO

Let ABCABC be a triangle with incentre II, and let Ω\Omega be the circumcircle of triangle BICBIC. Let KK be a point in the interior of segment BCBC such that BAK<KAC\angle BAK < \angle KAC. The angle bisector of BKA\angle BKA intersects Ω\Omega at points WW and XX such that AA and WW lie on the same side of BCBC, and the angle bisector of CKA\angle CKA intersects Ω\Omega at points YY and ZZ such that AA and YY lie on the same side of BCBC.
Prove that WAY=ZAX\angle WAY = \angle ZAX.

Solution

Solution 1. Let Γ\Gamma be circle ABCABC and ω\omega be circle AYZAYZ. Let O,MO, M, and SS be the centres of Γ,Ω\Gamma, \Omega, and ω\omega, respectively. Let AKAK intersect Γ\Gamma again at PP, and let the angle bisector of ZAY\angle ZAY intersect ω\omega again at NN.

Figure 1

By power of a point from KK to Γ\Gamma and Ω\Omega, we have that KAKP=KBKC=KYKZKA \cdot KP = KB \cdot KC = KY \cdot KZ, so PP also lies on ω\omega. The pairwise common chords of Γ,Ω\Gamma, \Omega, and ω\omega are then APOS,BCOMAP \perp OS, BC \perp OM, and YZMSYZ \perp MS, so we have that OMS=CKY=YKA=MSO\angle OMS = \angle CKY = \angle YKA = \angle MSO. As MM lies on Γ\Gamma and OM=OSOM = OS, SS also lies on Γ\Gamma. Note that NN lies on MSMS as NY=NZNY = NZ, so
PAN=12PSN=12PSM=12PAM. \angle PAN = \frac{1}{2} \angle PSN = \frac{1}{2} \angle PSM = \frac{1}{2} \angle PAM.
Thus, ANAN bisects PAM\angle PAM in addition to ZAY\angle ZAY, which means that ZAK=IAY\angle ZAK = \angle IAY as KK lies on APAP and II lies on AMAM.

Solution 2. Define MM and PP as in Solution 1, and recall that AYPZAYPZ is cyclic. Let QQ be the second intersection of the line parallel to BCBC through PP with circle ABCABC and let JJ be the incentre of triangle APQAPQ.

Figure 2

Since PQPQ is parallel to BCBC and BAP<PAC\angle BAP < \angle PAC, the angle bisector of APQ\angle APQ is parallel to the angle bisector of AKC\angle AKC. Hence, PJPJ is parallel to YZYZ. As MM is the midpoint of \overparenPQ\overparen{PQ} on circle APQAPQ, we have that MP=MJMP = MJ. Then since segments YZYZ and PJPJ are parallel and have a common point MM on their perpendicular bisectors, PJYZPJYZ is cyclic with JY=PZJY = PZ. It follows that JJ also lies on circle AYPZAYPZ and that ZAP=JAY=IAY\angle ZAP = \angle JAY = \angle IAY.

Solution 3. As in the previous solutions, let MM be the centre of Ω\Omega. Let LL be the intersection of AMAM and BCBC, and let LL' be the reflection of LL over YZYZ. Let the circle MYZMYZ intersect AMAM again at TT.

Figure 3

Note that as MM is the midpoint of \overparenBC\overparen{BC} on circle ABCABC and LL is the foot of the bisector of BAC\angle BAC, we have that MAML=MI2=MY2MA \cdot ML = MI^2 = MY^2. It follows by power of a point that MYMY is tangent to circle ALYALY, so LAY=LYM\angle LAY = \angle LYM. Using directed angles, we then have that
\VarangleAYT=\VarangleMTY\VarangleMAY=\VarangleMZY\VarangleLYM=\VarangleZYM\VarangleLYM=\VarangleZYL=\VarangleLYZ, \Varangle AYT = \Varangle MTY - \Varangle MAY = \Varangle MZY - \Varangle LYM = \Varangle ZYM - \Varangle LYM = \Varangle ZYL = \Varangle L'YZ,
where we use the fact that MY=MZMY = MZ and that LL and LL' are symmetric about YZYZ. Thus, YTYT and YLYL' are isogonal in AYZ\angle AYZ. Analogously, we have that ZTZT and ZLZL' are isogonal in YZA\angle YZA. This means that TT and LL' are isogonal conjugates in triangle AYZAYZ, which allows us to conclude that ZAK=IAY\angle ZAK = \angle IAY since LL' lies on AKAK and TT lies on AIAI.

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