Maths Olympiad Prep

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Geometry Difficulty 4.2 AIME Prove it Japan

A hexagon ABCDEFABCDEF is inscribed in a circle. If the sides ABAB and DEDE are parallel and so are the sides BCBC and EFEF, prove that the sides CDCD and FAFA are also parallel.

Solution

Since the sides BCBC and FAFA are not parallel, the lines BCBC and FAFA intersect. Call the point of their intersection XX. Similarly, let YY and ZZ be the points of intersections of the lines BCBC, DEDE and of the lines DEDE, FAFA, respectively.
Since the quadrilateral ABCDABCD is inscribed in the circle, we have YCD=BAD\angle YCD = \angle BAD. As the lines ABAB, DEDE are parallel, BAD=ADE\angle BAD = \angle ADE. We also have ADE=ZFE\angle ADE = \angle ZFE, since the quadrilateral ADEFADEF is inscribed in the circle. Finally, we have ZFE=AXB\angle ZFE = \angle AXB since the lines BCBC and EFEF are parallel. Putting these identities together, we get YCD=AXB\angle YCD = \angle AXB, which implies that the sides CDCD and FAFA are parallel.

Alternate Solution: Since the lines ABAB and DEDE are parallel, we have ABE=BED\angle ABE = \angle BED. Let α\alpha be the common value of these angles. Similarly, we have CBE=BEF\angle CBE = \angle BEF, whose value we call β\beta. Using the properties of quadrilaterals inscribed in a circle, we obtain
FCD=180DEF=180BEDBEF=180αβ, \angle FCD = 180^\circ - \angle DEF = 180^\circ - \angle BED - \angle BEF = 180^\circ - \alpha - \beta,
CFA=180ABC=180ABECBE=180αβ. \angle CFA = 180^\circ - \angle ABC = 180^\circ - \angle ABE - \angle CBE = 180^\circ - \alpha - \beta.
From this we get FCD=CFA\angle FCD = \angle CFA which implies that the sides CDCD and FAFA are parallel.

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