Maths Olympiad Prep

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Geometry Difficulty 5.5 AIME, harder Prove it United States

Problem:

Triangle ABCABC is inscribed in a circle ω\omega such that A=60\angle A = 60^\circ and B=75\angle B = 75^\circ. Let the bisector of angle AA meet BCBC and ω\omega at EE and DD, respectively. Let the reflections of AA across DD and CC be DD' and CC', respectively. If the tangent to ω\omega at AA meets line BCBC at PP, and the circumcircle of APDAPD' meets line ACAC at FAF \neq A, prove that the circumcircle of CFEC'FE is tangent to BCBC at EE.

Solution

Solution:

We will show that CE2=(CF)(CC)CE^2 = (CF)(CC'). By a simple computation using the given angles, one may find that this is equivalent to CF=ACABCF = AC - AB, or AF=2ACABAF = 2AC - AB.

We compute AFAF by trigonometry. Assume for simplicity that AC=12AC = \frac{1}{2}, so AD=2AD=2AC=1AD' = 2AD = 2AC = 1 because ACD\triangle ACD is isosceles by angle chasing. We first compute PDPD' by the law of cosines on triangle APDAPD', which yields
PD2=AP2+AD22(AP)(AD)cos75=AP2+12APcos75. PD'^2 = AP^2 + AD'^2 - 2(AP)(AD') \cos 75 = AP^2 + 1 - 2AP \cos 75.
We may easily compute APAP by the law of sines in triangle BAPBAP to be 12\frac{1}{\sqrt{2}}. Thus,
PD2=12+12624=432. PD'^2 = \frac{1}{2} + 1 - \sqrt{2} \cdot \frac{\sqrt{6} - \sqrt{2}}{4} = \frac{4 - \sqrt{3}}{2}.
By the law of sines within the circumcircle of APDFAPD'F, we have
FDsin30=PDsin75. \frac{FD'}{\sin 30} = \frac{PD'}{\sin 75}.
From this, we find that
FD=PDsin30sin75=432+6. FD' = \frac{PD' \sin 30}{\sin 75} = \frac{4 - \sqrt{3}}{\sqrt{2} + \sqrt{6}}.
Thus, we have by the law of cosines on triangle DAFD'AF that
AF2+AD22(AF)(AD)cos30=AF2+13AF=FD2=434+23. AF^2 + AD'^2 - 2(AF)(AD') \cos 30 = AF^2 + 1 - \sqrt{3} AF = FD'^2 = \frac{4 - \sqrt{3}}{4 + 2\sqrt{3}}.
Finally, solving for AFAF yields
AF=3±(233)2 AF = \frac{\sqrt{3} \pm (2\sqrt{3} - 3)}{2}
from which we indeed get AF=332AF = \frac{3 - \sqrt{3}}{2} which equals 2ACAB2AC - AB.

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