Maths Olympiad Prep

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Geometry Difficulty 5.0 AIME, harder Prove it Romania

Consider a parallelogram ABCDABCD and the points MM on the side DCDC and EE and NN on the diagonal ACAC, such that BEACBE \perp AC and CMCD=ENEA\frac{CM}{CD} = \frac{EN}{EA}.
Prove that if MNMN and NBNB are perpendicular, then ABCDABCD is a rectangle.

Solution

Solution.

Construct the parallel to ABAB through NN and denote by PP its intersection with the line BEBE.

Figure 1

Using the fundamental theorem of similarity in the triangle EABEAB:
NPAB=ENEA=CMCD. \frac{NP}{AB} = \frac{EN}{EA} = \frac{CM}{CD}.
From here we obtain NP=CMNP = CM and, since NPMCNP \parallel MC, it follows that MNPCMNPC is a parallelogram, so MNCPMN \parallel CP.

Given that MNNBMN \perp NB, it follows that CPNBCP \perp NB.

In the triangle BNCBNC, BEBE and CPCP are the lines supporting the altitudes, so the point PP is the orthocenter.

Therefore NPBCNP \perp BC and, since NPCDNP \parallel CD, it follows that BCCDBC \perp CD, thus ABCDABCD is a rectangle.

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