Maths Olympiad Prep

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Geometry Difficulty 4.7 AIME Prove it Italy

Problem:

Let ABCDABCD be a convex quadrilateral; set DA^B=αD\hat{A}B=\alpha; AD^B=βA\hat{D}B=\beta; AC^B=γA\hat{C}B=\gamma; DB^C=δD\hat{B}C=\delta; DB^A=ϵD\hat{B}A=\epsilon. Knowing that α<90\alpha<90^\circ, β+γ=90\beta+\gamma=90^\circ, δ+2ϵ=180\delta+2\epsilon=180^\circ, prove that
(DB+BC)2=AD2+AC2. (DB+BC)^2=AD^2+AC^2.

Solution

Solution:

Let PP be the reflection of CC with respect to the line ABAB. From the congruence of triangles ABCABC and ABPABP we obtain that
1. AB^P=AB^C=δ+ϵA\hat{B}P=A\hat{B}C=\delta+\epsilon;
2. AP^B=AC^B=γA\hat{P}B=A\hat{C}B=\gamma;
3. AP=ACAP=AC and BP=BCBP=BC.

Using the first piece of information we have that
DB^P=DB^A+AB^P=ϵ+(δ+ϵ)=δ+2ϵ=180 D\hat{B}P=D\hat{B}A+A\hat{B}P=\epsilon+(\delta+\epsilon)=\delta+2\epsilon=180^\circ
and therefore the points PP, BB, DD are collinear.

Now consider the triangle APDAPD. Using the second piece of information we have that
AP^D+AD^P=AP^B+AD^B=γ+β=90 A\hat{P}D+A\hat{D}P=A\hat{P}B+A\hat{D}B=\gamma+\beta=90^\circ
hence the triangle APDAPD is right-angled at AA.
(DB+BC)2=(DB+BP)2=DP2=AP2+AD2=AC2+AD2, (DB+BC)^2=(DB+BP)^2=DP^2=AP^2+AD^2=AC^2+AD^2,
which is what we wanted to prove.

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Source: MathNet, licensed CC-BY-4.0. Statement translated into English from it; metadata (topic, difficulty) added by this project.