Maths Olympiad Prep

Library / China Mathematical Competition (Complementary Test) /4 of 17

China Mathematical Competition (Complementary Test)

Geometry Difficulty 5.5 AIME, harder Prove it China

As seen in Fig. 1.1, points PP, QQ are, respectively, the midpoints of ACAC, BDBD — the two diagonals of cyclic quadrilateral ABCDABCD. Let ∠BPA=∠DPA\angle BPA = \angle DPA. Prove ∠AQB=∠CQB\angle AQB = \angle CQB.

Figure 1

Solution

As shown in Fig. 1.2, we extend segment DPDP to intercept with the circle at point EE. Then ∠CPE=∠DPA=∠BPA\angle CPE = \angle DPA = \angle BPA. Since PP is the midpoint of ACAC, we get AB‾=CE‾\overline{AB} = \overline{CE}, which means ∠CDP=∠BDA\angle CDP = \angle BDA. Furthermore, ∠ABD=∠PCD\angle ABD = \angle PCD. Therefore, △ABD∼△PCB\triangle ABD \sim \triangle PCB. Then ABBD=PCCD\frac{AB}{BD} = \frac{PC}{CD}, i.e., AB⋅CD=PC⋅BDAB \cdot CD = PC \cdot BD.

Then we have
AB⋅CD=12AC⋅BD=AC⋅(12BD)=AC⋅BQ, AB \cdot CD = \frac{1}{2} AC \cdot BD = AC \cdot \left(\frac{1}{2} BD\right) = AC \cdot BQ,
or ABAC=BQCD\frac{AB}{AC} = \frac{BQ}{CD}. Combining it with ∠ABQ=∠ACD\angle ABQ = \angle ACD, we derive that △ABQ∼△ACD\triangle ABQ \sim \triangle ACD. So ∠QAB=∠DAC\angle QAB = \angle DAC.

Extending segment AQAQ to intercept with the circle at point FF, we then have
∠CAB=∠QAB−∠QAC=∠DAC−∠QAC=∠DAF, \angle CAB = \angle QAB - \angle QAC = \angle DAC - \angle QAC = \angle DAF,
which means BC^=DF^\widehat{BC} = \widehat{DF}. Furthermore, as QQ is the midpoint of BDBD, then ∠CQB=∠DQF\angle CQB = \angle DQF.

Since ∠AQB=∠DQF\angle AQB = \angle DQF, we then have ∠AQB=∠CQB\angle AQB = \angle CQB.

The proof is completed. □\square

Want a route through all this instead of an archive? The track puts 2,604 problems in a working order, from Junior Challenge level to the IMO shortlist.

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