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National Math Olympiad in Slovenia

Geometry Difficulty 6.3 National Olympiad Prove it Slovenia

Let K\mathcal{K} be the circumcircle of the acute triangle ABCABC with ∣AB∣<∣AC∣|AB| < |AC|. Let pp be the reflection of the line BCBC over the line ABAB. The line pp intersects the circle K\mathcal{K} at BB and EE. The tangent to K\mathcal{K} at AA intersects the line pp at DD. Let FF be the reflection of the point DD over the point AA. The line CFCF intersects the circle K\mathcal{K} at CC and GG. Prove that the lines CECE and GBGB are parallel.

Solution

By the tangent-chord angle theorem we have ∠CAF=∠CBA\angle CAF = \angle CBA. Since pp is the reflection of the line BCBC over the line ABAB, we have ∠CBA=∠ABD\angle CBA = \angle ABD. The points A,B,E,CA, B, E, C are concyclic, so ∠ABD=∠ACE\angle ABD = \angle ACE. Hence, ∠CAF=∠ACE\angle CAF = \angle ACE, and the line CECE is parallel to the line FDFD.

We would like to show that the line GBGB is also parallel to FDFD. Using the tangent-chord angle theorem one more time we see that ∠DAB=∠ACB\angle DAB = \angle ACB. Also, ∠CBA=∠ABD\angle CBA = \angle ABD, so the triangles BADBAD and BCABCA are similar, having two congruent angles. This implies that ∣AD∣∣AB∣=∣CA∣∣CB∣\frac{|AD|}{|AB|} = \frac{|CA|}{|CB|}. Since FF is the reflection of the point DD over the point AA, we have ∣AD∣=∣FA∣|AD| = |FA|. So, ∣FA∣∣AB∣=∣CA∣∣CB∣\frac{|FA|}{|AB|} = \frac{|CA|}{|CB|}, or ∣FA∣∣CA∣=∣AB∣∣CB∣\frac{|FA|}{|CA|} = \frac{|AB|}{|CB|}. We also have ∠CAF=∠CBA\angle CAF = \angle CBA, so the triangles FACFAC and ABCABC are similar as well. This implies that ∠AFC=∠BAC=∠BGC\angle AFC = \angle BAC = \angle BGC and the line GBGB is parallel to FDFD.

Figure 1

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