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IRL ABooklet

Geometry Difficulty 7.2 National Olympiad, round 2 Prove it Ireland

Let △ABC\triangle ABC be a triangle with circumcentre OO. The perpendicular line from OO to BCBC intersects line BCBC at MM and line ACAC at PP, and the perpendicular line from OO to ACAC intersects line ACAC at NN and line BCBC at QQ. Let DD be the intersection point of lines PQPQ and MNMN. Construct the parallelogram PCQJPCQJ. Prove the following:

a) The points A,B,O,P,Q,JA, B, O, P, Q, J are all on the same circle.

b) Line ODOD is perpendicular to line CJCJ.

Solution

(a) Because OPOP is the perpendicular bisector of BCBC, △PBC\triangle PBC is isosceles with symmetry axis POPO. Thus ∣PB∣=∣PC∣|PB| = |PC| and ∠PBC=∠PCB=∠C\angle PBC = \angle PCB = \angle C. Hence ∠APB=2∠C\angle APB = 2\angle C (external angle).
Similarly, OQOQ is the perpendicular bisector of ACAC hence △QAC\triangle QAC is isosceles with symmetry axis QOQO. Thus ∣QA∣=∣QC∣|QA| = |QC| and ∠QAC=∠QCA=∠C\angle QAC = \angle QCA = \angle C. Hence ∠AQB=2∠C\angle AQB = 2\angle C (external angle).

Figure 1

This implies that quadrilateral APQBAPQB is cyclic with ∠APB=∠AQB\angle APB = \angle AQB. Because ∠AOB=2∠C\angle AOB = 2\angle C by the Central Angle Theorem, the point OO lies on this circle as well, i.e. A,P,O,Q,BA, P, O, Q, B are all on the same circle.
To show that JJ is on this circle too, we consider the parallelogram CPJQCPJQ.
Because JP∥BCJP \parallel BC and PO⊥BCPO \perp BC, we have ∠OPJ=90∘\angle OPJ = 90^\circ. Similarly, using JQ∥ACJQ \parallel AC and QO⊥ACQO \perp AC we obtain ∠OQJ=90∘\angle OQJ = 90^\circ. This implies that the four points P,O,Q,JP, O, Q, J are on the circle with diameter OJOJ. Hence, A,B,O,P,Q,JA, B, O, P, Q, J are all on the same circle.

(b) The quadrilateral CNOMCNOM is cyclic because ∠CNO=90∘\angle CNO = 90^\circ and ∠CMO=90∘\angle CMO = 90^\circ, and OCOC is a diameter of its circumcircle. The quadrilateral MNPQMNPQ is cyclic as well since ∠PNQ=∠PMQ=90∘\angle PNQ = \angle PMQ = 90^\circ. The line MNMN is the radical axis of the circumcircles of CNOMCNOM and MNPQMNPQ.

Figure 2

On the other hand, PQPQ is the radical axis of the circumcircles of APOQBAPOQB and MNPQMNPQ. Hence the point DD is the radical centre of the three circles mentioned above. As the circumcircles of ABPOQABPOQ and CMONCMON have the point OO in common, it follows that ODOD is the radical axis of these two circles and so is perpendicular to the line that connects the centres of them. These circles have diameters OJOJ and OCOC, hence the centre line connects the midpoints of OJOJ and OCOC and therefore is parallel to CJCJ. Hence OD⊥CJOD \perp CJ.

Alternative proof of (b).

Using the short notation ∠BAC=∠A\angle BAC = \angle A, ∠ABC=∠B\angle ABC = \angle B, ∠BCA=∠C\angle BCA = \angle C, we have ∠CNM=∠A\angle CNM = \angle A since NM∥ABNM \parallel AB. Because CNOMCNOM is cyclic due to the right angles at MM and NN, we have ∠MOQ=∠C\angle MOQ = \angle C. Also, ∠CQP=∠A\angle CQP = \angle A and ∠CPQ=∠B\angle CPQ = \angle B as APQBAPQB is cyclic by part (a).

Let A′A' be the second intersection point of the line PMPM and the circumcircle of triangle MQDMQD. Then looking at the cyclic quadrilateral A′MQDA'MQD we see that ∠PA′D=∠CQP=∠A\angle PA'D = \angle CQP = \angle A and ∠QDA′=∠QMP=90∘\angle QDA' = \angle QMP = 90^\circ.

Extend A′DA'D to intersect QNQN at B′B'. Note that triangles OA′B′OA'B' and CQPCQP are similar, in particular ∠A′B′O=∠B\angle A'B'O = \angle B.

Since PNDB′PNDB' is cyclic due to the right angles at NN and DD, we have ∠PB′N=∠PDN=∠CNM−∠CPQ=∠A−∠B\angle PB'N = \angle PDN = \angle CNM - \angle CPQ = \angle A - \angle B where the last equality comes from an external angle of triangle DNPDNP. Therefore ∠PB′D=∠A′B′O+∠PB′N=∠B+∠A−∠B=∠A\angle PB'D = \angle A'B'O + \angle PB'N = \angle B + \angle A - \angle B = \angle A. Thus the triangle A′PB′A'PB' is isosceles, and because PDPD is perpendicular to A′B′A'B', DD is the midpoint of A′B′A'B'.

Figure 3

Let D′D' be the intersection of CJCJ and PQPQ, and note that D′D' is the midpoint of PQPQ since PCQJPCQJ is a parallelogram.
From the angle equalities established above we see that triangle QPCQPC (with D′D' as midpoint of QPQP) is similar to triangle A′B′OA'B'O (with DD as midpoint of A′B′A'B'). Thus ∠QCD′=∠A′OD\angle QCD' = \angle A'OD, and so, since OA′⊥CQOA' \perp CQ, ODOD is perpendicular to CD′CD', i.e. to CJCJ.

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