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Geometry Difficulty 8.7 Shortlist Prove it Romania

Let ABCABC be a triangle. Let AA' be the centre of the circle through the midpoint of the side BCBC and the orthogonal projections of BB and CC on the lines of support of the internal bisectrices of the angles ACBACB and ABCABC, respectively; the points BB' and CC' are defined similarly. Prove that the nine-point circle of the triangle ABCABC and the circumcircle of ABCA'B'C' are concentric.

RMM 2015 Shortlist, Mexico

Solutions — 2

Solution 1

All the angles in the solution are directed modulo π\pi. The following notation is used throughout the proof:

2α2\alpha, 2β2\beta, 2γ2\gamma measures of the angles BACBAC, CBACBA, ACBACB, respectively;

2a2a, 2b2b, 2c2c lengths of the sides BCBC, CACA, ABAB, respectively;

II incentre of the triangle ABCABC;

MAM_A, MBM_B, MCM_C midpoints of the sides BCBC, CACA, ABAB, respectively;

XYX_Y orthogonal projection of XX on the line YIYI, for all X,Y{A,B,C}X, Y \in \{A, B, C\};

ωA\omega_A, ωB\omega_B, ωC\omega_C circumcircles of the triangles MABCCBM_A B_C C_B, MBCAACM_B C_A A_C, MCABBAM_C A_B B_A, respectively, centred at AA', BB', CC', respectively.

Since the angle AABBAA_B B is right, the segments MCA=MCB=MCAB=cM_C A = M_C B = M_C A_B = c (see Fig. 3), so MCABB=ABBMCC=CBAB=β\angle M_C A_B B = \angle A_B B M_C C = \angle C B A_B = \beta; this means that the lines MCABM_C A_B and BCBC are parallel, so ABA_B lies on the line MBMCM_B M_C. So, (MA,MB,CA,CB)(M_A, M_B, C_A, C_B), (MB,MC,AB,AC)(M_B, M_C, A_B, A_C), (MC,MA,BC,BA)(M_C, M_A, B_C, B_A) are quartets of collinear points.

Figure 1

Fig. 3

Let AA'' be the incentre of the triangle AMCMBAM_C M_B (in other words, AA'' is the midpoint of AIAI). We show that AA'' lies on both ωB\omega_B and ωC\omega_C. For that, notice first that the points A,B,ABA, B, A_B, and BAB_A lie on the circle on diameter ABAB; hence ABBAA=ABBA=β\angle A_B B_A A = \angle A_B B A = \beta. Next, the points AB,AC,MBA_B, A_C, M_B, and MCM_C lie on a line parallel to BCBC, so ABMCA=MBMCA=β=ABBAA\angle A_B M_C A'' = \angle M_B M_C A'' = \beta = \angle A_B B_A A. This means that AA'' lies on ωC\omega_C. Similarly, AA'' lies on ωB\omega_B.

Figure 2

Fig. 4

Let XX be the second point of intersection of ωB\omega_B and ωC\omega_C. By the preceding, MBXA=MBCAA=α\angle M_B X A'' = \angle M_B C_A A'' = \alpha and similarly AXMC=α\angle A'' X M_C = \alpha. This yields MBXMC=MBXA+AXMC=2α=MBMAMC\angle M_B X M_C = \angle M_B X A'' + \angle A'' X M_C = 2\alpha = \angle M_B M_A M_C, which shows that XX lies also on the circumcircle ω\omega of the triangle MAMBMCM_A M_B M_C, which is the nine-point circle of the triangle ABCABC. Denote the center of ω\omega by OO'.

Now the lines AX,MBXA''X, M_BX, and MCXM_CX are the radical axes of the circles ωB,ωC\omega_B, \omega_C, and ω\omega. Since XAXA'' forms equal angles with MBXM_BX and MCXM_CX, the triangle OBCO'B'C' formed by the centres of these circles has equal angles at BB' and CC'; therefore, OB=OCO'B' = O'C'. A similar argument shows that OB=OAO'B' = O'A', and OO' is consequently the circumcentre of the triangle ABCA'B'C'.

Solution 2

With reference to the notation in Solution 1, let OO and OO' be the circumcentre and the centre of the nine-point circle of the triangle ABCABC, respectively. As in the previous solution, usage is made of the fact that (MA,MB,CA,CB)(M_A, M_B, C_A, C_B), (MB,MC,AB,AC)(M_B, M_C, A_B, A_C), and (MC,MA,BC,BA)(M_C, M_A, B_C, B_A) are quartets of collinear points, and MABC=MACB=aM_A B_C = M_A C_B = a, MBAC=MBCA=bM_B A_C = M_B C_A = b, and MCAB=MCBB=cM_C A_B = M_C B_B = c.

Figure 3

Fig. 5

We claim that AO=IO/2A'O' = IO/2; similarly, BO=IO/2=COB'O' = IO/2 = C'O', whence the required result. To prove the claim, notice that each vector vv is uniquely determined by its projections on the lines ABAB and ACAC. The signed lengths of these projections will be denoted prcv\mathrm{pr}_c v and prbv\mathrm{pr}_b v, respectively, the rays ABAB and ACAC emanating from AA being considered positive.

The points OO' and AA' are the circumcentres of the triangles MAMBMCM_A M_B M_C and MABCCBM_A B_C C_B, respectively. Project onto MAMCM_A M_C, to get prbAO=prb(MAOMAA)=(b/2+a/2)=(ab)/2\mathrm{pr}_b A'O' = \mathrm{pr}_b (M_A O' - M_A A') = (-b/2 + a/2) = (a-b)/2. Similarly, prcAO=(ac)/2\mathrm{pr}_c A'O' = (a-c)/2. On the other hand, prbIO=prb(AOAI)=b(b+ca)=ac\mathrm{pr}_b IO = \mathrm{pr}_b (AO - AI) = b - (b+c-a) = a-c; similarly, prcIO=ab\mathrm{pr}_c IO = a-b. This means that the vector AOA'O' reflected in the bisectrix AIAI of the angle BACBAC is equal to the vector IO/2IO/2, hence the claim.

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