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Geometry Difficulty 8.1 Shortlist Prove it Netherlands

Let ABCABC be an acute non-isosceles triangle with orthocentre HH. Let OO be the circumcentre of triangle ABCABC, and let KK be the circumcentre of triangle AHOAHO. Prove that the reflection of KK in OHOH lies on BCBC.

Solution

We consider the configuration as in the figure. Other configurations are treated analogously. Denote by DD the second intersection of AHAH with the circumcircle of ABC\triangle ABC. Denote by SS the second intersection of the circumcircles of ABCABC and AHOAHO. (Because ABC\triangle ABC is acute, both OO and HH lie in the interior of ABCABC and also in the interior of the circumcircle, hence DD and SS both exist.)
We have
OSH=OAH=OAD=ODA=ODH, \angle OSH = \angle OAH = \angle OAD = \angle ODA = \angle ODH,
where we use that OA=OD|OA| = |OD|. Moreover, we have
OHD=180OHA=180OSA=180OAS=OHS, \angle OHD = 180^\circ - \angle OHA = 180^\circ - \angle OSA = 180^\circ - \angle OAS = \angle OHS,
where we use that OA=OS|OA| = |OS|. Now we conclude that OHSOHD\triangle OHS \cong \triangle OHD (SAA). This yields that DD and SS are each others reflection images in OHOH.

Therefore, if we reflect the circumcentre KK of OHS\triangle OHS in OHOH, we get the circumcentre LL of OHD\triangle OHD. Now we must prove that LL lies on BCBC.
Point DD is the reflection of HH in BCBC. This is a known fact, which we can prove as follows: DBC=DAC=HAC=90ACB=HBC\angle DBC = \angle DAC = \angle HAC = 90^\circ - \angle ACB = \angle HBC and analogously DCB=HCB\angle DCB = \angle HCB, hence DBCHBC\triangle DBC \cong \triangle HBC (ASA). Hence, DD is indeed the reflection of HH in BCBC, from which we get that BCBC is the perpendicular bisector of HDHD. Because LL lies on the perpendicular bisector of HDHD, we get that LL lies on BCBC, which is what we wanted to prove. \square

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