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Geometry Difficulty 8.3 Shortlist Prove it Romania

Let ABCABC be a triangle. Let P1P_1 and P2P_2 be points on the side ABAB such that P2P_2 lies on the segment BP1BP_1 and AP1=BP2AP_1 = BP_2; similarly, let Q1Q_1 and Q2Q_2 be points on the side BCBC such that Q2Q_2 lies on the segment BQ1BQ_1 and BQ1=CQ2BQ_1 = CQ_2. The segments P1Q2P_1Q_2 and P2Q1P_2Q_1 meet at RR, and the circles P1P2RP_1P_2R and Q1Q2RQ_1Q_2R meet again at SS, situated inside triangle P1Q1RP_1Q_1R. Finally, let MM be the midpoint of the side ACAC. Prove that the angles P1RSP_1RS and Q1RMQ_1RM are equal.

Solution

Throughout the solution, [XYZ][XYZ] and d(X,YZ)d(X, YZ) denote the area of the triangle XYZXYZ and the distance from the point XX to the line YZYZ, respectively.

Since the quadrilaterals SRQ2Q1SRQ_2Q_1 and SRP2P1SRP_2P_1 are cyclic, SQ1R=SQ2R\angle SQ_1R = \angle SQ_2R and SP1R=SP2R\angle SP_1R = \angle SP_2R (see Fig. 6), so the triangles SP1Q2SP_1Q_2 and SP2Q1SP_2Q_1 are similar, and
d(S,P1Q2)d(S,P2Q1)=P1Q2P2Q1.(1) \frac{d(S, P_1Q_2)}{d(S, P_2Q_1)} = \frac{P_1Q_2}{P_2Q_1}. \qquad (1)
Let KK and LL be the midpoints of ABAB and ACAC, respectively; then P1K=P2KP_1K = P_2K and Q1L=Q2LQ_1L = Q_2L. Therefore, d(Q1,MP1)+d(Q2,MP1)=2d(L,MP1)d(Q_1, MP_1) + d(Q_2, MP_1) = 2d(L, MP_1), so
[MP1Q2]+[MP1Q1]=2[MP1L]=MLd(P1,ML)=[ABC]/2. [MP_1Q_2] + [MP_1Q_1] = 2[MP_1L] = ML \cdot d(P_1, ML) = [ABC]/2.
Similarly, [MP2Q1]+[MP1Q1]=[ABC]/2=[MP1Q2]+[MP1Q1][MP_2Q_1] + [MP_1Q_1] = [ABC]/2 = [MP_1Q_2] + [MP_1Q_1]. Thus [MP1Q2]=[MP2Q1][MP_1Q_2] = [MP_2Q_1], whence
d(M,P1Q2)d(M,P2Q1)=P2Q1P1Q2.(2) \frac{d(M, P_1Q_2)}{d(M, P_2Q_1)} = \frac{P_2Q_1}{P_1Q_2}. \qquad (2)
In the angle P1RQ1P_1RQ_1, the condition d(X,P1Q2)/d(X,P2Q1)=αd(X, P_1Q_2)/d(X, P_2Q_1) = \alpha determines a ray emanating from RR. Moreover, rays symmetric with respect to the bisector of P1RQ1\angle P_1RQ_1 correspond to reciprocal values of α\alpha. Consequently, relations (1) and (2) show that the rays RSRS and RMRM are symmetric with respect to this angle bisector, and the conclusion follows.

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