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Geometry Difficulty 7.1 National Olympiad, round 2 Prove it Bulgaria

Problem:

Let MM and NN be arbitrary points on the side ABAB of a triangle ABCABC such that MM lies between AA and NN. The line through MM parallel to ACAC meets the circumcircle of MNC\triangle MNC at point PP, and the line through MM parallel to NCNC meets the circumcircle of AMC\triangle AMC at point QQ. Analogously, the line through NN parallel to BCBC meets the circumcircle of MNC\triangle MNC at point KK and the line through NN parallel to MCMC meets the circumcircle of BNC\triangle BNC at point LL. Prove that:

a) the points PP, QQ and CC are collinear;

b) the points PP, QQ, KK and LL are concyclic if and only if AM=BNAM = BN.

Solution

Solution:

QCP=QCA+ACN+NCP=CNA+ACN+NAC=180, \begin{aligned} \angle QCP &= \angle QCA + \angle ACN + \angle NCP \\ &= \angle CNA + \angle ACN + \angle NAC \\ &= 180^\circ, \end{aligned}
Figure 1
i.e. the points PP, CC and QQ are collinear.

b) Set ACM=φ\angle ACM = \varphi, NCM=ψ\angle NCM = \psi and denote by R1R_1 and R2R_2 the radii of the circumcircles of AMC\triangle AMC and MNC\triangle MNC, respectively. Then by the Sine theorem we have
QC=2R1sinQMC=2R1sinψCP=2R2sinPMC=2R2sinφAM=2R1sinφBM=2R2sinψ \begin{aligned} QC &= 2R_1 \sin \angle QMC = 2R_1 \sin \psi \\ CP &= 2R_2 \sin \angle PMC = 2R_2 \sin \varphi \\ AM &= 2R_1 \sin \varphi \\ BM &= 2R_2 \sin \psi \end{aligned}
Therefore PCCQ=4R1R2sinφsinψ=AMBMPC \cdot CQ = 4R_1 R_2 \sin \varphi \sin \psi = AM \cdot BM.

As in a) we see that the points LL, CC and KK are collinear. Analogously we have CKCL=ANBNCK \cdot CL = AN \cdot BN. Since the circumcircle of MNC\triangle MNC passes through KK, CC and PP, the lines PQPQ and KLKL do not coincide. Therefore the points PP, QQ, KK and LL are cyclic if and only if
CPCQ=CLCKAMBM=ANBNAM=BN. CP \cdot CQ = CL \cdot CK \Longleftrightarrow AM \cdot BM = AN \cdot BN \Longleftrightarrow AM = BN.

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