Maths Olympiad Prep

Library / /262 of 299

Geometry Difficulty 7.4 National Olympiad, round 2 Prove it Iran

Let ABCABC be an acute-angled triangle. Point ZZ on the altitude of vertex AA and points XX and YY on the extensions of the altitudes of vertices BB and CC are selected such that,
AYB=BZC=CXA=90. \angle AYB = \angle BZC = \angle CXA = 90^\circ.
Prove that XX, YY and ZZ are collinear if and only if the length of the tangent from vertex AA to the nine-point circle of the triangle is equal to the sum of the lengths of tangents from vertices BB and CC to this circle.

Solution

We denote the feet of altitudes of vertices AA, BB and CC by DD, EE and FF, respectively. Firstly, we prove that if XX, YY and ZZ are collinear then the length of the tangent from AA to the nine-point circle of triangle ABCABC (which we denote by ω\omega) is equal to the sum of the lengths of tangents from vertices BB and CC to this circle.
PωA=12AEAC=12AFAB=12AX2=12AY2 P_{\omega}^{A} = \frac{1}{2}AE \cdot AC = \frac{1}{2}AF \cdot AB = \frac{1}{2}AX^{2} = \frac{1}{2}AY^{2}
So the length of the tangent from AA to ω\omega is 22AX=22AY\frac{\sqrt{2}}{2}AX = \frac{\sqrt{2}}{2}AY. Similarly, the lengths of tangents from vertices BB and CC are equal to BYBY and CXCX, respectively. If XX, YY and ZZ lie on a common line we have YZ+ZX=YXYZ + ZX = YX and XZC+YZB=90\angle XZC + \angle YZB = 90^\circ (1). Since CX2=CECA=CDCB=CZ2CX^2 = CE \cdot CA = CD \cdot CB = CZ^2, we get CX=CZCX = CZ. In the same manner, we infer AX=AYAX = AY and BY=BZBY = BZ. Using (1) we can deduce XCZ+ZBY=180\angle XCZ + \angle ZBY = 180^\circ. The quadrilateral FZCBFZCB is cyclic and so ABZ=FCZ\angle ABZ = \angle FCZ. Therefore,
YBA+FCX=90YBA+(90A)+ACX=90 \angle YBA + \angle FCX = 90^\circ \Rightarrow \angle YBA + (90^\circ - \angle A) + \angle ACX = 90^\circ
Thus, YAX=90\angle YAX = 90^\circ and so AXY=45\angle AXY = 45^\circ. From these results, we get ZBY=ZCX=90\angle ZBY = \angle ZCX = 90^\circ. Hence, 2YB+2CX=2AX\sqrt{2}YB + \sqrt{2}CX = \sqrt{2}AX and so YB+CX=AXYB + CX = AX, which is what we wanted to show.

For the converse we present the following lemma.

Lemma 1. Let C1C_1 and C2C_2 be two perpendicular circles meeting each other at two points AA and BB. Then, There are exactly two points like TT on the line ABAB satisfying the following property. If TYTY and TXTX are tangents from TT to C1C_1 and C2C_2, respectively, such YY and XX are in two different sides of ABAB. We have AA, YY and XX are on a common line. Furthermore, these two points are symmetric with respect to the line of centers of C1C_1 and C2C_2 and power of them with respect to C1C_1 and C2C_2 are both equal to (R1+R2)2(R_1 + R_2)^2, where RiR_i is the radius of CiC_i.

Proof. First note that if the point TT has this property, we have
12A^Y=TYA=TYX=TXY=TXA=12A^X \frac{1}{2} \hat{A}Y = \angle TYA = \angle TYX = \angle TXY = \angle TXA = \frac{1}{2} \hat{A}X
And since O1AO2=90\angle O_1AO_2 = 90^\circ (OiO_i is the center of CiC_i), we get
A^Y=A^X=12A^Y+12A^X=XAO2+YAO1=180O1AO2=90 \hat{A}Y = \hat{A}X = \frac{1}{2}\hat{A}Y + \frac{1}{2}\hat{A}X = \angle XAO_2 + \angle YAO_1 = 180^\circ - \angle O_1AO_2 = 90^\circ
So we must have A^Y=A^X=90\hat{A}Y = \hat{A}X = 90^\circ.

Now for the existence of such TT, consider points YY and XX on C1C_1 and C2C_2, respectively, such that A^Y=A^X=90\hat{A}Y = \hat{A}X = 90^\circ. Note that we can choose such points in a unique way in one side of O1O2O_1O_2. It is easy to see YY, AA and XX are collinear. Therefore, if TT is the intersection point of the tangent to C1C_1 at YY and the tangent to C2C_2 at XX, we infer
TYX=Y^A=X^A=TXY \angle TYX = \hat{Y}A = \hat{X}A = \angle TXY
So TY=TXTY = TX. Thus, TT lies on the radical axis of C1C_1 and C2C_2. On the other hand, in the hexagon TXO2AO1YTXO_2AO_1Y we have
TYO1=YO1A=O1AO2=AO2X=O2XT=90 \angle TYO_1 = \angle YO_1A = \angle O_1AO_2 = \angle AO_2X = \angle O_2XT = 90^\circ
Hence, YTX=90\angle YTX = 90^\circ, and obviously TX=AO2+YO1=R2+R1TX = AO_2 + YO_1 = R_2 + R_1, as desired. \square

Now for the main problem note that circle ω1\omega_1 with center BB and radius BZBZ is perpendicular to the circle ω2\omega_2 with center CC and radius CZCZ, because BZX=90\angle BZX = 90^\circ. Furthermore, since AYB=AXC=90\angle AYB = \angle AXC = 90^\circ, AYAY is tangent to ω1\omega_1 at YY and AXAX is tangent to ω2\omega_2 at XX. On the other hand AY=AX=BY+CXAY = AX = BY + CX, so according to the lemma the point having this property is unique in one side of BCBC. Therefore, again by lemma XX, YY and ZZ are collinear.

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.