Maths Olympiad Prep

Library / /28 of 86

Geometry Difficulty 5.5 AIME, harder Prove it Estonia

The bisector of the internal angle on vertex AA of a triangle ABCABC intersects the side BCBC at point DD. The line tangent to the circumcircle of the triangle ABCABC at point AA intersects the line BCBC at point KK. Prove that KA=KDKA = KD.

Solutions — 2

Solution 1

Assume w.l.o.g. that ABC>ACB\angle ABC > \angle ACB (Fig. 31; otherwise change the roles of points BB and CC). Note that
ADK=180CDA=DAC+ACD=BAD+ACB. \angle ADK = 180^{\circ} - \angle CDA = \angle DAC + \angle ACD = \angle BAD + \angle ACB.
By inscribed angle property, KAB=ACB\angle KAB = \angle ACB, whence
BAD+ACB=BAD+KAB=KAD. \angle BAD + \angle ACB = \angle BAD + \angle KAB = \angle KAD.
Consequently, ADK=KAD\angle ADK = \angle KAD, which implies KA=KDKA = KD.

Solution 2

Let OO be the circumcenter of the triangle ABCABC, MM be the midpoint of the side BCBC, and XX be the point of intersection of the ray OMOM with the circumcircle of the triangle ABCABC. Moreover, let QQ be the point of intersection of the line perpendicular to the side BCBC and passing through point DD with the line AOAO (Fig. 32). As OMOM is the perpendicular bisector of the side BCBC, point XX bisects the arc BCBC of the circumcircle of the triangle ABCABC, whence the line ADAD also passes through XX. As OA=OXOA = OX, we have XAO=OXA\angle XAO = \angle OXA. On the other hand, OXBCOX \perp BC and QDBCQD \perp BC together imply OXQDOX \parallel QD, whence OXA=QDA\angle OXA = \angle QDA. Thus DAQ=XAO=QDA\angle DAQ = \angle XAO = \angle QDA, implying AQ=QDAQ = QD. Consequently, there exists a circle with center QQ passing through both points AA and DD. As KAAQKA \perp AQ and KDDQKD \perp DQ, the lines KAKA and KDKD are tangent to this circle. By the property of tangent line segments, KA=KDKA = KD.

Want a route through all this instead of an archive? The track puts 2,000 problems in a working order, from AMC 10 level to the IMO shortlist.

Source: MathNet, licensed CC-BY-4.0. Statement and solution reproduced as published; topic and difficulty added by this site.