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International Mathematical Olympiad

Geometry Difficulty 8.5 Shortlist Prove it China

Let △ABC\triangle ABC be an acute-angled triangle with AB≠ACAB \neq AC. The circle with diameter BCBC intersects the sides ABAB and ACAC at MM and NN respectively. Denote by OO the midpoint of the side BCBC. The bisectors of the angles BACBAC and MONMON intersect at RR. Prove that the circumcircles of the triangles BMRBMR and CNRCNR have a common point lying on the side BCBC.

Solution

We first show that the points A,M,R,NA, M, R, N are concyclic. Since ABCABC is an acute-angled triangle, MM and NN are on the line segments ABAB and ACAC respectively. Let R1R_1 be the point such that the points A,M,R1,NA, M, R_1, N are concyclic, where R1R_1 is on the ray ARAR. Since AR1AR_1 bisects ∠BAC\angle BAC, we have R1M=R1NR_1M = R_1N. Since MM and NN lie on the circle with centre OO, we have OM=ONOM = ON. It follows from OM=ONOM = ON and R1M=R1NR_1M = R_1N that R1R_1 is on the bisector of ∠MON\angle MON. Since AB≠ACAB \neq AC, the bisectors of the angles BACBAC and MONMON intersect at the unique point RR, and so R1=RR_1 = R, or A,M,R,NA, M, R, N are concyclic.

Let the bisector of ∠BAC\angle BAC meet BCBC at KK. Since the points B,C,N,MB, C, N, M are concyclic, ∠MBC=∠ANM\angle MBC = \angle ANM. Moreover, since A,M,R,NA, M, R, N are concyclic, ∠ANM=∠MRA\angle ANM = \angle MRA. This implies ∠MBK=∠MRA\angle MBK = \angle MRA. Therefore, the points B,M,R,KB, M, R, K are concyclic. Using the same argument as above, we obtain that C,N,R,KC, N, R, K are concyclic. This completes the solution.

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