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Geometry Difficulty 8.6 Shortlist Prove it United States

Points PP and QQ lie inside acute triangle ABCABC such that PAB=QAC\angle PAB = \angle QAC and PBA=QBC\angle PBA = \angle QBC. Point DD lies on side BCBC. Prove that
DPC+APB=180if and only ifDQB+AQC=180. \angle DPC + \angle APB = 180^{\circ} \quad \text{if and only if} \quad \angle DQB + \angle AQC = 180^{\circ}.

Solution

Figure 1
Solution:

Solution 1. Extend BPBP through PP to P1P_1 so that PAP1=PCD=Cz\angle PAP_1 = \angle PCD = C - z. By (1), DPC=180APB=APP1\angle DPC = 180^{\circ} - \angle APB = \angle APP_1. Hence triangles PAP1PAP_1 and PCDPCD are similar. In particular, there is a spiral similarity S1S_1 centered at PP sending PAP1PAP_1 to PCDPCD. Thus, there is another spiral similarity S2S_2 centered at PP sending PACPAC to PP1DPP_1D, from which it follows that PP1D=PAC=Ax=BAQ\angle PP_1D = \angle PAC = A - x = \angle BAQ. Combining the last equation with ABQ=By=PBQ=P1BQ\angle ABQ = B - y = \angle PBQ = \angle P_1BQ, we deduce that triangle QABQAB is similar to triangle DP1BDP_1B; that is, there is a spiral similarity S3S_3 centered at BB sending BAQBAQ
to BP1DBP_1D. Thus, there is another spiral similarity S4S_4 centered at BB sending BAP1BAP_1 to BQDBQD. It therefore follows that
BQD=BAP1=BAP+PAP1=QAC+PCD=QAC+QCA=180AQC, \angle BQD = \angle BAP_1 = \angle BAP + \angle PAP_1 = \angle QAC + \angle PCD = \angle QAC + \angle QCA = 180^\circ - \angle AQC,
as desired.

Solution 2. Because BQC>BAC>PAC\angle BQC > \angle BAC > \angle PAC, there is a point Q1Q_1 on segment BCBC such that Q1QC=PAC=Ax\angle Q_1QC = \angle PAC = A-x. Because Q1QC=PAC\angle Q_1QC = \angle PAC and Q1CQ=PCA=z\angle Q_1CQ = \angle PCA = z, we conclude that triangle Q1QCQ_1QC is similar to triangle PACPAC. In particular, there is a spiral similarity T1T_1 centered at CC sending Q1QCQ_1QC to PACPAC. It follows that there is another similarity T2T_2 centered at CC sending Q1PCQ_1PC to QACQAC, implying that Q1PC=QAC=x\angle Q_1PC = \angle QAC = x. By (1), we have DPQ1=CPDCPQ1=By=QBC=QBQ1\angle DPQ_1 = \angle CPD - \angle CPQ_1 = B-y = \angle QBC = \angle QBQ_1.
Extend PDPD to a point Q2Q_2 such that Q2BQ1=QBQ1\angle Q_2BQ_1 = \angle QBQ_1. We have that DPQ1=QBQ1=QBQ1\angle DPQ_1 = \angle QBQ_1 = \angle QBQ_1, implying that BPQ1Q2BPQ_1Q_2 is cyclic, from which it follows that BQ1Q2=BPQ2\angle BQ_1Q_2 = \angle BPQ_2. By (1) and because APC=QQ1C\angle APC = \angle QQ_1C (from the similar triangles APCAPC and QQ1CQQ_1C), we have
BQ1Q2=BPQ2=180APC=180QQ1C=BQQ1. \angle BQ_1Q_2 = \angle BPQ_2 = 180^\circ - \angle APC = 180^\circ - \angle QQ_1C = \angle BQQ_1.
Combining the last equality with the fact that QBQ1=Q2BQ1\angle QBQ_1 = \angle Q_2BQ_1, we see that BQQ1Q2BQQ_1Q_2 is a kite with line BQ1BQ_1 as its symmetry axis. In particular, by symmetry, cyclic quadrilateral BPQ1Q2BPQ_1Q_2, and similar triangles AQCAQC and PQ1CPQ_1C, we obtain
BQD=BQ2D=BQ2P=BQ1P=180CQ1P=180AQC, \angle BQD = \angle BQ_2D = \angle BQ_2P = \angle BQ_1P = 180^\circ - \angle CQ_1P = 180^\circ - AQC,
completing the proof.

Solution 3. There is a unique point D1D_1 on side BCBC such that CPD1+APB=180\angle CPD_1 + \angle APB = 180^\circ and a unique point D2D_2 on side BCBC such that BQD2+AQC=180\angle BQD_2 + \angle AQC = 180^\circ. It suffices to show that D1=D2D_1 = D_2 or
BD1D1C=BD2D2CorBD1D1CCD2D2B=1.(2) \frac{BD_1}{D_1C} = \frac{BD_2}{D_2C} \quad \text{or} \quad \frac{BD_1}{D_1C} \cdot \frac{CD_2}{D_2B} = 1. \qquad (2)
Applying the law of sines to triangles BPD1BPD_1, CPD1CPD_1, and BCPBCP gives
BD1D1C=BPsinBPD1CPsinCPD1=sin(Cz)sinBPD1sinysinCPD1=sin(Cz)sinysinBPD1sinCPD1. \frac{BD_1}{D_1C} = \frac{BP \sin \angle BPD_1}{CP \sin CPD_1} = \frac{\sin(C-z) \sin \angle BPD_1}{\sin y \sin \angle CPD_1} = \frac{\sin(C-z)}{\sin y} \cdot \frac{\sin \angle BPD_1}{\sin \angle CPD_1}.
By the definition of D1D_1, (1) becomes
APB+CPD=180if and only ifAPC+BPD=180. \angle APB + \angle CPD = 180^{\circ} \quad \text{if and only if} \quad \angle APC + \angle BPD = 180^{\circ}.
In particular, sinBPD1=sinAPC\sin \angle BPD_1 = \sin \angle APC and sinCPD1=sinAPB\sin \angle CPD_1 = \sin \angle APB. Applying the law of sines in triangles APBAPB and APCAPC, we have
BD1D1C=sin(Cz)sinysinBPD1sinCPD1=sin(Cz)sinysinAPCsinAPB=BPCPsinAPCAPsinAPBAP=sin(Cz)sinysinACPACsinABPAB, \begin{aligned} \frac{BD_1}{D_1C} &= \frac{\sin(C - z)}{\sin y} \cdot \frac{\sin \angle BPD_1}{\sin \angle CPD_1} \\ &= \frac{\sin(C - z)}{\sin y} \cdot \frac{\sin \angle APC}{\sin \angle APB} \\ &= \frac{BP}{CP} \cdot \frac{\sin \angle APC \cdot AP}{\sin \angle APB \cdot AP} \\ &= \frac{\sin(C - z)}{\sin y} \cdot \frac{\sin \angle ACP \cdot AC}{\sin \angle ABP \cdot AB}, \end{aligned}
which we may rewrite as
BD1D1C=sin(Cz)sinysinzsin(By)ACAB. \frac{BD_1}{D_1C} = \frac{\sin(C - z)}{\sin y} \cdot \frac{\sin z}{\sin(B - y)} \cdot \frac{AC}{AB}.
In exactly the same way, we can show that
CD2D2B=sin(By)sinzsin(Cz)sinyABAC. \frac{CD_2}{D_2B} = \frac{\sin(B - y)}{\sin z} \cdot \frac{\sin(C - z)}{\sin y} \cdot \frac{AB}{AC}.
Multiplying the last two equations together yields (2), completing the proof.

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