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Geometry Difficulty 6.0 National olympiad Prove it Romania

Let ABCABC be a triangle and let MM be the midpoint of the side BCBC. The parallels through MM to ABAB and ACAC cross the tangent at AA to circle ABCABC at XX and YY, respectively. The circles BMXBMX and CMYCMY cross again at SS. Prove that the circles SXYSXY and SBCSBC are tangent.

Figure 1

Solution

The argument hinges on the four facts below:
(1) XX' lies on circle YMCYMC and YY' lies on circle XMBXMB.
(2) SS, AA and MM are collinear.
(3) UU and VV both lie on circle SXYSXY.
(4) UVUV is parallel to BCBC.
Assume these facts for the moment, to complete the solution as follows: By (3), the conclusion is equivalent to circles SUVSUV and SBCSBC being tangent; and by (4), these circles are similar from SS, whence the conclusion.

To prove (1), write YXM=YXM=180PAXAPX=180ABCBAC=ACB\angle Y'XM = \angle YXM = 180^\circ - \angle PAX - \angle APX = 180^\circ - \angle ABC - \angle BAC = \angle ACB.
As YNYN and NMNM are midlines in triangles ABYABY' and ABCABC, respectively, YBM=YBA+ABC=BNM+ABC=180ACB\angle Y'BM = \angle Y'BA + \angle ABC = \angle BNM + \angle ABC = 180^\circ - \angle ACB.
Consequently, YXM+YBM=180\angle Y'XM + \angle Y'BM = 180^\circ, so YY' lies on circle XMBXMB. Similarly, XX' lies on circle YMCYMC. This establishes (1).

To prove (2), note that SMSM is the radical axis of the circles YMCYMC and XMBXMB, so it is sufficient to show that AA has equal powers with respect to these circles. By (1), the two circles are XMCX'MC and YMBY'MB, respectively, so AXAY=2AXAY=AX2AY=AXAYAX' \cdot AY = 2 \cdot AX \cdot AY = AX \cdot 2 \cdot AY = AX \cdot AY', as desired. This establishes (2).
To prove (3), note that YUYBYU \parallel Y'B, as YNYN is a midline in triangle ABYABY', so SUY=SBY\angle SUY = \angle SBY'. By (1), SBY=SXY\angle SBY' = \angle SXY, so SUY=SXY\angle SUY = \angle SXY, implying that UU lies on circle SXYSXY. Similarly, VV lies on this circle. This establishes (3).

Finally, to prove (4), it is sufficient to show that SU/UB=SV/VCSU/UB = SV/VC and then apply Thales. As triangles MSUMSU and MUBMUB have the same MM-altitude and share the side MUMU,
SUUB=area MSUarea MUB=SMMBsinSMUsinUMB=SMMBsinAMNsinNMB, \frac{SU}{UB} = \frac{\text{area } MSU}{\text{area } MUB} = \frac{SM}{MB} \cdot \frac{\sin \angle SMU}{\sin \angle UMB} = \frac{SM}{MB} \cdot \frac{\sin \angle AMN}{\sin \angle NMB},
as AA lies on SMSM by (2).
Triangles MANMAN and MNBMNB have equal areas, as they both have the same MM-altitude, and NN is the midpoint of ABAB. These triangles also share the side MNMN, so
MAMNsinAMN=2area MAN=2area MNB=MNMBsinNMB. MA \cdot MN \cdot \sin \angle AMN = 2 \cdot \text{area } MAN = 2 \cdot \text{area } MNB = MN \cdot MB \cdot \sin \angle NMB.
Hence sinAMN/sinNMB=MB/MA\sin \angle AMN / \sin \angle NMB = MB/MA, so, by the preceding,
SUUB=SMMBMBMA=SMMA. \frac{SU}{UB} = \frac{SM}{MB} \cdot \frac{MB}{MA} = \frac{SM}{MA}.
Similarly, SV/VC=SM/MASV/VC = SM/MA, so SU/UB=SV/VCSU/UB = SV/VC, as stated. This establishes (4) and completes the solution.

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