Maths Olympiad Prep

Library / /136 of 169

Geometry Difficulty 7.7 National Olympiad, round 2 Prove it United States

Let PP be a given point inside quadrilateral ABCDABCD. Points Q1Q_1 and Q2Q_2 are located within ABCDABCD such that
Q1BC=ABP,Q1CB=DCP,Q2AD=BAP,Q2DA=CDP. \angle Q_1 BC = \angle ABP, \quad \angle Q_1 CB = \angle DCP, \quad \angle Q_2 AD = \angle BAP, \quad \angle Q_2 DA = \angle CDP.
Prove that Q1Q2AB\overline{Q_1Q_2} \parallel \overline{AB} if and only if Q1Q2CD\overline{Q_1Q_2} \parallel \overline{CD}.

Solutions — 2

Solution 1

We will prove that the lines AB\overline{AB}, CD\overline{CD}, and Q1Q2\overline{Q_1Q_2} are either concurrent or all parallel. Let XX and YY denote the reflections of PP across the lines AB\overline{AB} and CD\overline{CD}.

We first claim that XQ1=YQ1XQ_1 = YQ_1 and XQ2=YQ2XQ_2 = YQ_2. Indeed, let ZZ be the reflection of Q1Q_1 across BCBC. Then XB=PBXB = PB, BQ1=BZBQ_1 = BZ, and
XBQ1=XBA+ABQ1=ABC=PBC+CBZ=PBZ, \angle XBQ_1 = \angle XBA + \angle ABQ_1 = \angle ABC = \angle PBC + \angle CBZ = \angle PBZ,
whence XBQ1PBZ\triangle XBQ_1 \cong \triangle PBZ and thus XQ1=PZXQ_1 = PZ. Similarly YQ1=PZYQ_1 = PZ, and so XQ1=YQ1XQ_1 = YQ_1. In exactly the same way, we see that XQ2=YQ2XQ_2 = YQ_2, establishing the claim. We conclude that line Q1Q2\overline{Q_1Q_2} is the perpendicular bisector of the segment XY\overline{XY}.

Now, if ABCD\overline{AB} \parallel \overline{CD}, then XYAB\overline{XY} \perp \overline{AB} and it follows that Q1Q2AB\overline{Q_1Q_2} \parallel \overline{AB}, as desired. If lines AB\overline{AB} and CD\overline{CD} are not parallel, then let RR denote their intersection. Since RX=RP=RYRX = RP = RY, RR lies on the perpendicular bisector of XY\overline{XY} and thus R,Q1R, Q_1, and Q2Q_2 are collinear, as desired.

Solution 2

We approach the problem using isogonal conjugates. Recall that two points SS and TT are isogonal conjugates with respect to ABCABC if SAB=CAT\angle SAB = \angle CAT, SBC=ABT\angle SBC = \angle ABT, and SCA=BCT\angle SCA = \angle BCT, with any two of these equalities implying the third.

If ABCD\overline{AB} \parallel \overline{CD}, then there is nothing to prove; thus we assume AB\overline{AB} intersects CD\overline{CD} in a point RR. Then Q1Q_1 and PP are isogonal conjugates with respect to RBCRBC, whence Q1RB=CRP\angle Q_1RB = \angle CRP. Similarly, Q2Q_2 and PP are isogonal conjugates with respect to RADRAD, whence Q2RA=DRP\angle Q_2RA = \angle DRP. Therefore Q1RB=Q2RA=Q2RB\angle Q_1RB = \angle Q_2RA = \angle Q_2RB and the lines AB\overline{AB}, CD\overline{CD}, Q1Q2\overline{Q_1Q_2} all intersect at RR.

Want a route through all this instead of 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 reproduced verbatim; metadata (topic, difficulty) added by this project.