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Geometry Difficulty 4.8 AIME Prove it United States

Problem:

Squares ABDEA B D E, BCFGB C F G and CAHIC A H I are drawn exterior to a triangle ABCA B C. Parallelograms DBGXD B G X, FCIYF C I Y and HAEZH A E Z are completed. Prove that AYB+BZC+CXA=90\angle A Y B + \angle B Z C + \angle C X A = 90^{\circ}.

Solution

Solution:

Let ρ\rho be the 9090^{\circ} rotation about the center of square ABDEA B D E, counterclockwise (orienting ABC\triangle A B C to have its vertices in counterclockwise order). Note that segments CAC A and ZEZ E are congruent and perpendicular (thanks to square CAHIC A H I and parallelogram HAEZH A E Z), so ρ(C)=Z\rho(C) = Z. Likewise, segments BCB C and DXD X are congruent and perpendicular, implying ρ(X)=C\rho(X) = C. Now ρ(XC)=CZ\rho(X C) = C Z which implies ZCX=90\angle Z C X = 90^{\circ}. Likewise XAY=YBZ=90\angle X A Y = \angle Y B Z = 90^{\circ}. With three of the angles of the reentrant hexagon XAYBZCX A Y B Z C known, the sum of the other three is readily computed:

Figure 1

AYB+BZC+CXA=(180BAYYBA)+(180CBZZCB)+(180ACXXAC)=540(BAY+XAC)(CBZ+YBA)(ACX+ZCB)=540(XAY+BAC)(YBZ+CBA)(ZCX+ACB)=540390(BAC+CBA+ACB)=540270180=90. \begin{aligned} & \angle A Y B + \angle B Z C + \angle C X A \\ & = \left(180^{\circ} - \angle B A Y - Y B A\right) + \left(180^{\circ} - \angle C B Z - \angle Z C B\right) + \left(180^{\circ} - \angle A C X - \angle X A C\right) \\ & = 540^{\circ} - (\angle B A Y + \angle X A C) - (\angle C B Z + \angle Y B A) - (\angle A C X + \angle Z C B) \\ & = 540^{\circ} - (\angle X A Y + \angle B A C) - (\angle Y B Z + \angle C B A) - (\angle Z C X + \angle A C B) \\ & = 540^{\circ} - 3 \cdot 90^{\circ} - (\angle B A C + \angle C B A + \angle A C B) \\ & = 540^{\circ} - 270^{\circ} - 180^{\circ} = 90^{\circ}. \end{aligned}

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Source: MathNet, licensed CC-BY-4.0. Statement reproduced verbatim; metadata (topic, difficulty) added by this project.