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Geometry Difficulty 6.7 National olympiad Prove it Belarus

Given two hyperbolae H1H_1 and H2H_2 with the equations y=1/xy = 1/x and y=1/xy = -1/x, respectively. A straight line meets H1H_1 at points AA and BB, and meets H2H_2 at points CC and DD. The lines tangent to H1H_1 at points AA and BB intersect at point MM, and the lines tangent to H2H_2 at points CC and DD intersect at point NN.
Prove that MM and NN are symmetric with respect to the origin of coordinates.

Solution

Without loss of generality we may assume that the positions of all hyperbolae, lines, and points look like in the figure (otherwise we can rotate the plane by the angle which is a multiple of 9090^{\circ}, and rename the points).

Figure 1

Let A(a;1/a)A(a; 1/a), B(b;1/b)B(b; 1/b), C(c;1/c)C(c; -1/c), D(d,1/d)D(d, -1/d). Note that all numbers aa, bb, cc, dd are pairwise distinct and c<0c < 0, d>a>b>0d > a > b > 0. Since the derivative of the function y(x)=1/xy(x) = 1/x is equal to y(x)=1/x2y'(x) = -1/x^2, the equations of the tangents to H1H_1 at AA and BB have the forms
y=1a2(xa)+1aandy=1b2(xb)+1b. y = -\frac{1}{a^2}(x-a) + \frac{1}{a} \quad \text{and} \quad y = -\frac{1}{b^2}(x-b) + \frac{1}{b}.
Let M(xM;yM)M(x_M; y_M) be the point of intersection of these tangents, then
1a2(xa)+1a=1b2(xb)+1b,so xM=2aba+b.Therefore -\frac{1}{a^2}(x-a) + \frac{1}{a} = -\frac{1}{b^2}(x-b) + \frac{1}{b}, \quad \text{so } x_M = \frac{2ab}{a+b}. \quad \text{Therefore}
yM=1a2(xMa)+1a=2a+b. y_M = -\frac{1}{a^2}(x_M - a) + \frac{1}{a} = \frac{2}{a+b}.

Similarly, since the derivative of the function y(x)=1/xy(x) = -1/x is equal to y(x)=1/x2y'(x) = 1/x^2, the equations of the tangents to H2H_2 at CC and DD have the forms
y=1c2(xc)1candy=1d2(xd)1d. y = \frac{1}{c^2}(x-c) - \frac{1}{c} \quad \text{and} \quad y = \frac{1}{d^2}(x-d) - \frac{1}{d}.
Let N(xN;yN)N(x_N; y_N) be the point of intersection of these tangents, then
1c2(xc)1c=1d2(xd)1d,so xN=2cdc+d.Therefore \frac{1}{c^2}(x-c) - \frac{1}{c} = \frac{1}{d^2}(x-d) - \frac{1}{d}, \quad \text{so } x_N = \frac{2cd}{c+d}. \quad \text{Therefore}
yN=1c2(xNc)1c=2c+d. y_N = \frac{1}{c^2}(x_N - c) - \frac{1}{c} = -\frac{2}{c+d}.
Since AA, BB, CC, DD belong to the same line, we have a+b=c+da+b = c+d and ab=cdab = -cd (see the solution of Problem C.1). Hence xM=xNx_M = -x_N and yM=yNy_M = -y_N, i.e., MM and NN are symmetric with respect to the origin.

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