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Selection Examinations for the IMO, 2012

Geometry Difficulty 8.8 Shortlist Prove it Slovenia

Let ABCDABCD be a tangential quadrilateral whose inscribed circle touches the sides ABAB, BCBC, CDCD and DADA in points PP, QQ, RR and SS, respectively. Let the lines ABAB and CDCD intersect at a point EE, and let the lines ADAD and BCBC intersect at a point FF. Denote I1I_1 the intersection point of the bisectors of the angles ∠QPS\angle QPS and ∠PSR\angle PSR, and denote I2I_2 the intersection point of the bisectors of the angles ∠RQP\angle RQP and ∠SRQ\angle SRQ. Prove that the lines ACAC, EFEF and I1I2I_1I_2 either intersect at a common point or are parallel.

Solution

First suppose that the lines PQPQ and RSRS intersect. Denote TT their point of intersection. Due to symmetry we may assume that QQ lies between PP and TT and RR lies between SS and TT. We shall prove that the lines EFEF, I1I2I_1I_2 and ACAC pass through the point TT.

In the construction, I1I_1 is the intersection point of the bisectors of two angles in the triangle PTSPTS, hence the center of the inscribed circle of the triangle PTSPTS. The point I1I_1 lies on the bisector of the angle ∠STP\angle STP. Similarly, I2I_2 is the intersection point of the bisectors of the exterior angles at QRQR in the triangle QTRQTR, hence the center of the inscribed circle to the side QRQR of the triangle QTRQTR. The point I2I_2 lies on the bisector of the angle ∠RTQ\angle RTQ. Because SS, RR and TT are collinear, and PP, QQ and TT are collinear, I1I_1, I2I_2 and TT must also be collinear.

Denote T′T' the intersection point of the lines EFEF and PQPQ, and denote T′′T'' the intersection point of the lines EFEF and RSRS. According to the Menelaus' theorem, we have
BPPF⋅FT′T′E⋅EQQB=−1andDRRF⋅FT′′T′′E⋅ESSD=−1. \frac{BP}{PF} \cdot \frac{FT'}{T'E} \cdot \frac{EQ}{QB} = -1 \quad \text{and} \quad \frac{DR}{RF} \cdot \frac{FT''}{T''E} \cdot \frac{ES}{SD} = -1.
Consider the lengths of the tangent segments to get ∣BP∣=∣BQ∣|BP| = |BQ|, ∣DS∣=∣DR∣|DS| = |DR|, ∣FP∣=∣FR∣|FP| = |FR| and ∣EQ∣=∣ES∣|EQ| = |ES|. Because of the above equalities and due to the obvious fact that EE and FF lie outside the quadrilateral ABCDABCD, we have FT′T′E=∣PF∣∣QE∣=∣RF∣∣SE∣=FT′′T′′E\frac{FT'}{T'E} = \frac{|PF|}{|QE|} = \frac{|RF|}{|SE|} = \frac{FT''}{T''E}. Hence T′=T′′T' = T'', and the lines EFEF, PQPQ and RSRS intersect in a common point T∈EFT \in EF.

Let T1T_1 be the intersection point of the lines ACAC and PQPQ, and let T2T_2 be the intersection point of the lines ACAC and RSRS. We again apply the Menelaus' theorem to get
APPB⋅BQQC⋅CT1T1A=−1andASSD⋅DRRC⋅CT2T2A=−1. \frac{AP}{PB} \cdot \frac{BQ}{QC} \cdot \frac{CT_1}{T_1A} = -1 \quad \text{and} \quad \frac{AS}{SD} \cdot \frac{DR}{RC} \cdot \frac{CT_2}{T_2A} = -1.
Because PP, QQ, RR and SS lie each on a side of the quadrilateral ABCDABCD, from the equality of the tangent segments ∣AP∣=∣AS∣|AP| = |AS|, ∣BP∣=∣BQ∣|BP| = |BQ|, ∣CQ∣=∣CR∣|CQ| = |CR| and ∣DR∣=∣DS∣|DR| = |DS| we derive CT1T1A=−∣QC∣∣PA∣=−∣RC∣∣SA∣=CT2T2A\frac{CT_1}{T_1A} = -\frac{|QC|}{|PA|} = -\frac{|RC|}{|SA|} = \frac{CT_2}{T_2A}. Hence, T1=T2T_1 = T_2 and the line ACAC passes through the point TT.

Now suppose PQ∥RSPQ \parallel RS. Because of the equality of the tangent segments, we get ∠BPQ=12(π−∠QBP)\angle BPQ = \frac{1}{2}(\pi - \angle QBP), ∠SPA=∠ASP=12(π−∠PAS)\angle SPA = \angle ASP = \frac{1}{2}(\pi - \angle PAS) and ∠RSD=12(π−∠SDR)\angle RSD = \frac{1}{2}(\pi - \angle SDR), hence ∠QPS=12(∠PAS+∠QBP)\angle QPS = \frac{1}{2}(\angle PAS + \angle QBP) and ∠PSR=12(∠PAS+∠SDR)\angle PSR = \frac{1}{2}(\angle PAS + \angle SDR). Since PQ∥RSPQ \parallel RS, we have ∠QPS+∠PSR=π\angle QPS + \angle PSR = \pi, and hence ∠BAD+12(∠CBA+∠ADC)=π\angle BAD + \frac{1}{2}(\angle CBA + \angle ADC) = \pi. We conclude ∠BAD=∠DCB\angle BAD = \angle DCB, which means that the quadrilateral ABCDABCD is a deltoid. The lines EFEF, I1I2I_1I_2 and ACAC are thus parallel.

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