Given the trapezoid with the smaller base , squares and are constructed externally to the trapezoid. Prove that the perpendicular bisector of passes through the midpoint of .
Solution
Let be the midpoint of and , be points on the base , such that .
Construct squares and , externally to the triangle .
Since and is a parallelogram, we infer that , so . As and , triangles and are congruent (S.A.S.), so .
Triangle is right-angled at , so . It follows that , therefore , , are collinear.
Hence, is the perpendicular bisector of segment . Since is a parallelogram, the line passes through the midpoint of the diagonal .
As and , it follows that . But , so is a parallelogram, which means that and . Analogously, we prove that and . Since is the midpoint of , we infer that and , so is parallelogram. Therefore, the diagonals and have the same midpoint , so (the perpendicular bisector of ) passes through the midpoint of .