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Geometry Difficulty 5.7 AIME, harder Prove it Romania

Let OO be the circumcenter of the acute triangle ABCABC. An arbitrary diameter intersects side [AB][AB] in DD and side [AC][AC] in EE. If FF is the midpoint of [BE][BE] and GG is the midpoint of [CD][CD], show that FOG=BAC\angle FOG = \angle BAC.

Figure 1

Solutions — 2

Solution 1

We shall make use of the following:

Lemma. Let ABCABC be a triangle and MNMN be a chord of its circumcircle which intersects side [AB][AB] in DD and side [AC][AC] in EE. Then DMDN:EMEN=BMBN:CMCN\frac{DM}{DN} : \frac{EM}{EN} = \frac{BM}{BN} : \frac{CM}{CN}.

Proof of the lemma. Using the law of sines in triangles BDMBDM and BDNBDN, we have
DMsin(ABM)=BMsin(BDM)andDNsin(ABN)=BNsin(BDN). \frac{DM}{\sin(\angle ABM)} = \frac{BM}{\sin(\angle BDM)} \quad \text{and} \quad \frac{DN}{\sin(\angle ABN)} = \frac{BN}{\sin(\angle BDN)}.
Since BDM+BDN=180\angle BDM + \angle BDN = 180^\circ, we have sin(BDM)=sin(BDN)\sin(\angle BDM) = \sin(\angle BDN), so
DMDN=BMBNsin(ABM)sin(ABN). \frac{DM}{DN} = \frac{BM}{BN} \cdot \frac{\sin(\angle ABM)}{\sin(\angle ABN)}.
Analogously, we get EMEN=CMCNsin(ACM)sin(ACN)\frac{EM}{EN} = \frac{CM}{CN} \cdot \frac{\sin(\angle ACM)}{\sin(\angle ACN)}. But ABM=ACM\angle ABM = \angle ACM and ABN=ACN\angle ABN = \angle ACN, so DMDN:EMEN=BMBN:CMCN\frac{DM}{DN} : \frac{EM}{EN} = \frac{BM}{BN} : \frac{CM}{CN}. \square

Returning to our problem, let DD' and EE' be the reflections of DD and EE about OO and AA' be the second intersection point of BEBE' with the circumcircle of ABCABC. Also, let DD'' be the intersection of lines ACA'C and MNMN.

From the lemma, we have
DMDN:EMEN=BMBN:CMCN=DMDN:EMEN. \frac{DM}{DN} : \frac{EM}{EN} = \frac{BM}{BN} : \frac{CM}{CN} = \frac{D''M}{D''N} : \frac{E'M}{E'N}.
Since DM=DNDM = D'N, DN=DMDN = D'M, EM=ENEM = E'N and EN=EMEN = E'M, we conclude that DMDN=DMDN\frac{D'M}{D'N} = \frac{D''M}{D''N}, hence D=DD' = D''.

Now, OFOF is midsegment in BBE\triangle BB'E, hence BOF=BBX\angle BOF = \angle BB'X; OGOG is midsegment in CCD\triangle CC'D, hence COG=CCX\angle COG = \angle CC'X. But clearly BBX+CCX=BAC\angle BB'X + \angle CC'X = \angle BAC and BOC=2BAC\angle BOC = 2\angle BAC, therefore
FOG=BOC(BOF+COG)=2BACBAC=BAC, \angle FOG = \angle BOC - (\angle BOF + \angle COG) = 2\angle BAC - \angle BAC = \angle BAC,

Since [OF][OF] is a midsegment of the triangle BEEBEE' and [OG][OG] is a midsegment of the triangle CDDCDD', we get that OFBAOF \parallel BA' and OGCAOG \parallel CA', so FOG=BAC=BAC\angle FOG = \angle BA'C = \angle BAC.

Solution 2

Let BB' be the point diametrically opposed to BB and CC' the point diametrically opposed to CC; the triangle ABCABC being acute, BB' is on the minor arc ACAC, and CC' is on the minor arc ABAB. Let XX be an arbitrary point on the minor arc BCBC. Applying Pascal's theorem to the hexagram ABBXCCABB'XC'C shows that points O=BBCCO = BB' \cap CC', D=ABCXD = AB \cap C'X, E=ACBXE = AC \cap B'X are collinear – on Pascal's line, which is the support line of a diameter.

Conversely, if a diameter intersects the sides [AB][AB] and [AC][AC] at DD and EE, respectively, then the lines BEB'E and CDC'D will meet at a point XX situated on the minor arc BCBC (consider XX only as the intersection point of the line BEB'E with the circle, and apply Pascal's theorem; D=ABCXD' = AB \cap C'X will be collinear with O,EO, E, hence, it will be the intersection of the diameter with the line ABAB, which means that DD' is in fact DD).

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Source: MathNet, licensed CC-BY-4.0. Statement reproduced verbatim; metadata (topic, difficulty) added by this project.