Maths Olympiad Prep

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Geometry Difficulty 5.4 AIME, harder Prove it New Zealand

Problem:
Let AA, BB, CC, DD, EE be five different points on the circumference of a circle in that (cyclic) order. Let FF be the intersection of chords BDBD and CECE. Show that if AB=AE=AFAB = AE = AF then lines AFAF and CDCD are perpendicular.

Solution

Solution:
Let x=ABFx = \angle ABF and let y=BCAy = \angle BCA. Since ABF\triangle ABF is isosceles, we get BFA=x\angle BFA = x. Since AB=AEAB = AE, it follows that arcs BABA and AEAE are equal. Since equal arcs subtend equal angles, every angle subtended by either arc ABAB or AEAE must be equal to BCA=y\angle BCA = y.

BCA=BDA=ACE=ADE=y.\Rightarrow \angle BCA = \angle BDA = \angle ACE = \angle ADE = y.
Figure 1
Since opposite angles in a cyclic quadrilateral (ABDEABDE) are supplementary, we get ABD+DEA=180\angle ABD + \angle DEA = 180^\circ. Therefore DEA=180x\angle DEA = 180^\circ - x. Now consider triangles AEDAED and AFDAFD. We have

ADE=y=ADF and AED=180x=AFD\angle ADE = y = \angle ADF \text{ and } \angle AED = 180^\circ - x = \angle AFD
and side ADAD is shared. Therefore these triangles are congruent: AEDAFD\triangle AED \equiv \triangle AFD. Hence

EAD=DAF=xy.(angle sum in AFD)\angle EAD = \angle DAF = x - y. \qquad (\text{angle sum in } \triangle AFD)

Now let PP be the intersection of ADAD and EFEF. Also let QQ be the intersection of AFAF and CDCD. Since APAP is the angle bisector of isosceles triangle AEFAEF, we have

APF=90.\angle APF = 90^\circ.
AFP=90+yx(angle sum in AFP)\Rightarrow \angle AFP = 90^\circ + y - x \qquad (\text{angle sum in } \triangle AFP)
CFQ=90+yx(vertically opposite)\angle CFQ = 90^\circ + y - x \qquad (\text{vertically opposite})

Finally we get ECD=EAD=xy\angle ECD = \angle EAD = x - y by the Bow Tie Theorem (ACDEACDE cyclic). Therefore FCQ=xy\angle FCQ = x - y. Now consider the sum of the angles in triangle FCQFCQ to get

CQF+(xy)+(90+yx)=180\angle CQF + (x - y) + (90^\circ + y - x) = 180^\circ

CQF=90\Rightarrow \angle CQF = 90^\circ

as required.

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