Maths Olympiad Prep

Library / /8 of 11

Geometry Difficulty 8.5 Shortlist Prove it Netherlands

Let ABC\triangle ABC be an acute triangle with AB>AC|AB| > |AC| and let ω\omega be the circumcircle of ABC\triangle ABC with centre OO. The altitude from AA intersects BCBC in DD and intersects ω\omega a second time in PP. Let HH be the orthocentre of ABC\triangle ABC and let KK be the point on the line segment BCBC such that BD=KC|BD| = |KC|. The circumcircle of PKH\triangle PKH intersects ω\omega a second time in QQ and intersects the line BCBC a second time in NN. Let TT be the point on the line ADAD such that TNPQTN \perp PQ.

Prove that the line KTKT passes through OO.

Solution

Let MM be the circumcentre of PKH\triangle PKH. Note that the reflection of HH in BCBC lies on the circumcircle ω\omega. (One way to see this is to note that BHC=BHD+DHC=BCA+ABC\angle BHC = \angle BHD + \angle DHC = \angle BCA + \angle ABC.) Therefore this reflection is the point PP. So the reflection in BCBC transforms PKH\triangle PKH into itself, so MM lies on BCBC and therefore is the midpoint of KNKN.

Let OO be the centre of ω\omega. Note that PP and QQ lie on both ω\omega and the circumcircle of PKH\triangle PKH, so OMOM is the perpendicular bisector of PQPQ. Therefore OMPQTNOM \perp PQ \perp TN, so OMTNOM \parallel TN. As MM is the midpoint of KNKN, the line OMOM is the midsegment of KNT\triangle KNT parallel to TNTN. Thus OMOM passes through the midpoint of KTKT, say OO'.

Let mm be the perpendicular bisector of KDKD. It is a midsegment in KDT\triangle KDT, because it passes through the midpoint of KDKD and is parallel to DTDT. Therefore mm also passes through OO'. As BD=KC|BD| = |KC|, mm is also the perpendicular bisector of BCBC. So mm also passes through OO, as BCBC is a chord of ω\omega. Since OMOM and mm both pass through both OO and OO', we conclude that O=OO' = O if OMOM and mm do not coincide. Therefore KTKT passes through OO if OMOM and mm do not coincide.

Finally, to complete the proof, we show that OMOM and mm indeed do not coincide. Let \ell be the line through NN perpendicular to PQPQ. Note that HH lies in the interior of ABC\triangle ABC, as it is an acute-angled triangle. It follows that DND \neq N and therefore that \ell does not coincide with ADAD. Since DND \neq N and MM is the midpoint of KNKN, MM is not the midpoint of KDKD. So MM is not the midpoint of BCBC. Therefore OMOM is not perpendicular to BCBC and therefore not parallel to mm; in particular, OMOM and mm do not coincide. \square

Want a route through all this instead of an archive? The track puts 2,000 problems in a working order, from AMC 10 level to the IMO shortlist.

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