Maths Olympiad Prep

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Tajland, 2014

Geometry Difficulty 6.5 National Olympiad Prove it Thailand

Let ABCDABCD be a convex quadrilateral with the shortest side ABAB strictly less than the longest side CDCD. Show that there exists a point EE on the segment CDCD such that for any point PP (different from EE) on the segment CDCD, the length of O1O2O_1O_2 is constant, where O1O_1 and O2O_2 are circumcenters of the triangles APDAPD and BPEBPE, respectively.

Solution

Claim: The point EE is the intersection point of the line parallel to ADAD through BB and the line CDCD.

Let EE be the intersection point of the line parallel to ADAD through BB and the line CDCD. Firstly, we will show that EE is on the segment CDCD. Since AB≤ADAB \le AD and BC≤CDBC \le CD (because ABAB and CDCD are the shortest and longest sides, respectively), then ∠ABD≥∠ADB\angle ABD \ge \angle ADB and ∠CBD≥∠BDC\angle CBD \ge \angle BDC. Therefore ∠ABC=∠ABD+∠DBC≥∠ADB+∠BDC=∠ADC\angle ABC = \angle ABD + \angle DBC \ge \angle ADB + \angle BDC = \angle ADC. Similarly, we will have that ∠BAD≥∠BCD\angle BAD \ge \angle BCD. Thus, ∠ABC+∠BAD≥∠BCD+∠CDA\angle ABC + \angle BAD \ge \angle BCD + \angle CDA, and then ∠ABC+∠BAD≥180∘\angle ABC + \angle BAD \ge 180^\circ. Moreover, one can show that ∠ABC+∠BAD>180∘\angle ABC + \angle BAD > 180^\circ. (If ∠ABC+∠BAD=180∘=∠BCD+∠CDA\angle ABC + \angle BAD = 180^\circ = \angle BCD + \angle CDA, we would have that ∠ABC=∠ADC\angle ABC = \angle ADC and ∠BAD=∠BCD\angle BAD = \angle BCD, and then □ABCD\square ABCD would be a parallelogram; contradicting with the fact that AB<CDAB < CD.) Therefore, we can move the point CC along the line CDCD closer to DD to the point E′E', making the angle ABCABC smaller, so that ∠E′BA+∠BAD=180∘\angle E'BA + \angle BAD = 180^\circ, i.e., BE′∥ADBE' \parallel AD. Thus, E′E' is the same as the point EE stated above, and lies on the segment CDCD.

Secondly, we will show that for an arbitrary point PP different from EE on the segment CDCD, ∠O1PO2=∠APB\angle O_1PO_2 = \angle APB.

Case 1: ∠ADP<90∘\angle ADP < 90^\circ. Thus ∠BEC<90∘\angle BEC < 90^\circ, and have that O1O_1 and CC are on the opposite sides of PAPA, and O2O_2 and CC are on the opposite sides of PBPB. By simple angle chasing (using angles at centres) we get that
∠APO1=90∘−∠ADP=90∘−∠BEC=∠BPO2. \angle APO_1 = 90^\circ - \angle ADP = 90^\circ - \angle BEC = \angle BPO_2.
Therefore ∠O1PO2=∠APB\angle O_1PO_2 = \angle APB.

Case 2: ∠ADP≥90∘\angle ADP \ge 90^\circ. Similarly, we get ∠BEC≥90∘\angle BEC \ge 90^\circ but now O1O_1 and CC are on the same side of APAP, and O2O_2 and CC are on the same side of BPBP. So by angle chasing we get
∠APO1=∠ADP−90∘=∠BEC−90∘=∠BPO2. \angle APO_1 = \angle ADP - 90^\circ = \angle BEC - 90^\circ = \angle BPO_2.
Therefore ∠O1PO2=∠APB\angle O_1PO_2 = \angle APB.

Finally, using Law of Sine for APAP and BPBP on circles O1O_1 and O2O_2, respectively, we get
APBP=2O1Psin⁡(∠ADP)2O2Psin⁡(∠BEP)=O1PO2P. \frac{AP}{BP} = \frac{2O_1P \sin(\angle ADP)}{2O_2P \sin(\angle BEP)} = \frac{O_1P}{O_2P}.
Thus we have that △APB∼△O1PO2\triangle APB \sim \triangle O_1PO_2, and to conclude that
O1O2=ABAP⋅O1P=AB2sin⁡(∠ADC) O_1O_2 = \frac{AB}{AP} \cdot O_1P = \frac{AB}{2\sin(\angle ADC)}
which is a constant independent of a point PP. □\square

Figure 1

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