Maths Olympiad Prep

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Geometry Difficulty 8.3 Shortlist Prove it Saudi Arabia

In acute triangle ABCA B C, points DD and EE are the feet of the perpendiculars from AA to BCB C and BB to CAC A, respectively. Segment ADA D is a diameter of circle ω\omega. Circle ω\omega intersects sides ACA C and ABA B at FF and GG (other than AA), respectively. Segment BEB E intersects segments GDG D and GFG F at XX and YY respectively. Ray DYD Y intersects side ABA B at ZZ. Prove that lines XZX Z and BCB C are perpendicular.

Solutions — 2

Solution 1

We have AFG=ADG\angle A F G=\angle A D G since AGDFA G D F is cyclic. On the other hand DGA=AFD=90\angle D G A=\angle A F D=90^\circ, since ADA D is a diameter. We deduce that triangles AGDA G D and ADBA D B are similar, and therefore AFG=CBA\angle A F G=\angle C B A.

Because AEB=ADB=90\angle A E B=\angle A D B=90^\circ, quadrilateral ABDEA B D E is cyclic. Therefore DEB=CBA=EFY\angle D E B=\angle C B A=\angle E F Y. But EFD=YEF=90\angle E F D=\angle Y E F=90^\circ. We deduce that DFEYD F E Y is a rectangle and therefore BYB Y is an altitude in triangle BDZB D Z. Line segment DGD G is also an altitude in triangle BDZB D Z which intersects BYB Y at XX. We deduce that ZXZ X and BCB C are perpendicular.

Figure 1

Solution 2

Because ADB=AEB=90\angle A D B=\angle A E B=90^\circ, the quadrilateral ABDEA B D E is cyclic. Therefore, the projections of the point DD on the lines AB,BEA B, B E, and EAE A are collinear (Simson line). But GG and FF are the projections of DD on lines ABA B and EAE A, respectively, since ADA D is a diameter of the circle ω\omega. Then the projection of DD on BEB E is YY, the intersection point of BEB E with GFG F. Therefore, BYB Y is perpendicular to DZD Z. Hence, in triangle BDZB D Z, line segments BYB Y and DGD G are altitudes and intersect at XX. Thus ZXZ X is also an altitude and therefore ZXZ X and BCB C are perpendicular.

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