Olympiad Maths Prep

Library / /11 of 33

Geometry Difficulty 5.9 AIME, harder Prove it Belarus

A trapezoid ABCDABCD (ABCDAB \parallel CD) is inscribed into the parabola y=x2y = x^2. The line containing the midline MNMN of this trapezoid meets the parabola at points KK and LL.
Prove that the lengths of the segments KMKM and NLNL are equal.
(I. Gorodnin)

Solution

Let A(a,a2)A(a, a^2), B(b,b2)B(b, b^2), C(c,c2)C(c, c^2), D(d,d2)D(d, d^2), K(k,k2)K(k, k^2), L(l,l2)L(l, l^2), M(m,m2)M(m, m^2), N(n,n2)N(n, n^2). Without loss of generality we can assume that the points are arranged as shown in the figure (all other cases are similar).

Figure 1

It is easy to write the equations of the straight lines ABAB, CDCD, KLKL, ADAD, BCBC
AB:y=(a+b)xab,CD:y=(c+d)xcd,KL:y=(k+l)xkl, AB: y = (a+b)x - ab, \quad CD: y = (c+d)x - cd, \quad KL: y = (k+l)x - kl,
AD:y=(a+d)xad,BC:y=(b+c)xbc. AD: y = (a+d)x - ad, \quad BC: y = (b+c)x - bc.
Since the lines ABAB, CDCD, KLKL are parallel, their slopes are equal, so
a+b=c+d=k+l=λ,(1) a+b=c+d=k+l=\lambda, \quad (1)
where λ\lambda is some real number.

The point MM is the intersection point of the lines ADAD and KLKL, so its abscissae mm satisfies the equation
(k+l)mkl=(a+d)mad(k+lad)m=klad. (k+l)m - kl = (a+d)m - ad \Leftrightarrow \\ \Leftrightarrow (k+l-a-d)m = kl-ad.
Taking into account (1), we obtain
(ca)m=klad.(2) (c-a)m = kl-ad. \quad (2)

Similarly, the abscissae nn of the point NN (NN is the intersection point of the lines BCBC and KLKL) satisfies the equation
(k+l)nkl=(b+c)nbc(k+lbc)n=klbc (k+l)n - kl = (b+c)n - bc \Leftrightarrow (k+l-b-c)n = kl-bc
Taking into account (1), we obtain
(ac)n=klbc.(3) (a-c)n = kl - bc. \quad (3)
Subtracting (3) from (2), we get
(ca)(m+n)=bcad=[b=(1)λa,d=(1)λc]=(λa)ca(λc)=λ(ca). (c-a)(m+n) = bc-ad = [b \stackrel{(1)}{=} \lambda-a, d \stackrel{(1)}{=} \lambda-c] = (\lambda-a)c-a(\lambda-c) = \lambda(c-a).
Since ca0c - a \neq 0, we have m+n=λ=(1)k+lm + n = \lambda \stackrel{(1)}{=} k + l, i.e., m+n=k+lm + n = k + l. This equality can be written as m+n2=k+l2\frac{m+n}{2} = \frac{k+l}{2}. It follows that the midpoints of the segments MNMN and KLKL coincide. Since MNMN and KLKL lie on the same straight line, we obtain KM=NLKM = NL as required.

Looking for a route rather than 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.