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Geometry Difficulty 7.5 National olympiad, round 2 Prove it Romania

Let ABC\triangle ABC be a triangle, let MAM_A be the midpoint of the side BCBC, and let PAP_A be the orthogonal projection of AA on the line BCBC; similarly, define MB,PBM_B, P_B and MC,PCM_C, P_C. The lines MBMCM_B M_C and PBPCP_B P_C meet at SAS_A, and the tangent of the circle ABCABC at AA meets the line BCBC at TAT_A; similarly, define SB,TBS_B, T_B and SC,TCS_C, T_C. Show that the perpendiculars through A,B,CA, B, C to the lines SATA,SBTB,SCTCS_A T_A, S_B T_B, S_C T_C, respectively, are concurrent.
Flavian Georgescu
Figure 1

Solution

The three lines in question are concurrent at the center of the nine-point circle ω\omega of the triangle ABCABC. In what follows, polarity always refers to ω\omega.

To prove that the center of ω\omega lies on the perpendicular through AA to the line SATAS_A T_A, it is sufficient to show that the latter is the polar of AA; a similar argument applies to BB and CC.

Figure 2

Showing that TAT_A also lies on the polar of AA involves only elements relative to vertex AA and the subscript AA is henceforth dropped out to write M,P,TM, P, T instead of MA,PA,TAM_A, P_A, T_A, respectively.
Let the line AMAM meet ω\omega again at KK, and let LL be the midpoint of the line segment joining AA to the orthocenter of the triangle ABCABC.
Completion of the cyclic quadrangle KLMPKLMP shows that the polar of AA passes through the point where the lines KLKL and MPMP meet, so it is sufficient to show K,L,TK, L, T collinear.
To this end, we show that the lines KLKL and LTLT are both perpendicular to the line AMAM. Recall that LL is the antipode of MM in ω\omega, and LMLM is parallel to the circumradius through AA. The former implies that the lines AKMAKM and KLKL are perpendicular, and the latter implies that so are the lines ATAT and LMLM. Since the lines ALPALP and MPTMPT are also perpendicular, LL is the orthocenter of the triangle AMTAMT, so the lines AMAM and LTLT are perpendicular.

Remark. Since the polar of AA passes through TAT_A, the polar of TAT_A passes through AA. Now let the tangents of ω\omega at MAM_A and PAP_A meet at XAX_A; the points XBX_B and XCX_C are defined similarly. The line MAPAM_A P_A through TAT_A is the polar of XAX_A, so the polar of TAT_A passes through XAX_A. Hence the line AXAA X_A is the polar of TAT_A; similarly, the lines BXBB X_B and CXCC X_C are the polars of TBT_B and TCT_C, respectively. Since TAB/TAC=(AB/AC)2T_A B / T_A C = (AB/AC)^2 and the like, the points TA,TB,TCT_A, T_B, T_C are collinear, so their polars, AXA,BXB,CXCA X_A, B X_B, C X_C, are concurrent; that is, the triangles ABCABC and XAXBXCX_A X_B X_C are in perspective.

Notice that BB and CC also lie on the polar of XAX_A to infer that the polars of BB and CC meet at XAX_A; similarly, the polars of CC and AA meet at XBX_B, and the polars of AA and BB meet at XCX_C. Consequently, SA,TA,XB,XCS_A, T_A, X_B, X_C all lie on the polar of AA and the like.

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