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Saudi Arabian Mathematical Competitions

Geometry Difficulty 7.1 National Olympiad, round 2 Prove it Saudi Arabia

Let ABCABC be a triangle. Circle Ω\Omega passes through points BB and CC. Circle ω\omega is tangent internally to Ω\Omega and also to sides ABAB and ACAC at TT, PP, and QQ, respectively. Let MM be midpoint of arc BC\text{arc BC} (containing TT) of Ω\Omega. Prove that lines PQPQ, BCBC, and MTMT are concurrent.

Solution

Let RR be the intersection point of lines PQPQ and BCBC, and SS the intersection point of lines MTMT and BCBC.

Figure 1

Because circle ω\omega is tangent to both sides ABAB and ACAC at PP and QQ, we have AP=AQAP = AQ. Applying Menelaus' theorem to triangle ABCABC and line PQPQ we obtain
BR‾RC‾=−BPPA⋅AQQC=−BPQC. \frac{\overline{BR}}{\overline{RC}} = -\frac{BP}{PA} \cdot \frac{AQ}{QC} = -\frac{BP}{QC}.
Because MM is the midpoint of arc BC^\widehat{BC} of circle Ω\Omega containing TT, line MTMT is the external bisector of angle ∠BTC\angle BTC. We deduce that
BS‾SC‾=−TBTC \frac{\overline{BS}}{\overline{SC}} = -\frac{TB}{TC}
To prove that S=RS = R, we have to prove that BS‾SC‾=BR‾RC‾\frac{\overline{BS}}{\overline{SC}} = \frac{\overline{BR}}{\overline{RC}}, which is equivalent to proving that
BPQC=TBTC. \frac{BP}{QC} = \frac{TB}{TC}.
Let B′B' and C′C' be the second intersection points of lines TBTB and TCTC with circle ω\omega, respectively. Because circles Ω\Omega and ω\omega are tangent at TT, segments BCBC and B′C′B'C' are parallel, and therefore
TBTC=BB′CC′. \frac{TB}{TC} = \frac{BB'}{CC'}.
Because lines ABAB and ACAC are tangent to ω\omega at PP and QQ, respectively, we have from the power of points BB and CC with respect to circle ω\omega
(BPCQ)2=BT⋅BB′CT⋅CC′=(BTCT)2. \left(\frac{BP}{CQ}\right)^2 = \frac{BT \cdot BB'}{CT \cdot CC'} = \left(\frac{BT}{CT}\right)^2.

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