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Belarusian Mathematical Olympiad

Geometry Difficulty 6.2 National Olympiad Prove it Belarus

Let MM and NN be the midpoints of the sides ABAB and BCBC of the triangle ABCABC respectively. Points KK and LL are the tangency points of the inscribed circle of the triangle ABCABC with the sides ABAB and ACAC respectively. Let TT be the intersection point of the lines MNMN and KLKL. Prove that TT belongs to the bisector of the angle ACBACB.

Solution

Let PP be the tangency point of the inscribed circle of △ABC\triangle ABC with the side BCBC. Let x=BK=BPx = BK = BP, y=AK=ALy = AK = AL, z=CP=CLz = CP = CL.
If BC=ACBC = AC, then the statement of the problem holds because the points MM, KK, TT are coincide and CTCT is a bisector of the angle ACBACB.

Figure 1
Fig. 1
Figure 2
Fig. 2

Let AC>BCAC > BC (see Fig. 1). Since MNMN is the midline we have MN∥ACMN \parallel AC and so ∠KTM=∠KLA\angle KTM = \angle KLA. But ∠AKL=∠KLA\angle AKL = \angle KLA (whence AK=ALAK = AL),
therefore ∠MKT=∠AKL=∠KTM\angle MKT = \angle AKL = \angle KTM, and
MT=MK=0.5⋅AB−BK=0.5(x+y)−x=0.5(y−x). MT = MK = 0.5 \cdot AB - BK = 0.5(x + y) - x = 0.5(y - x).
Thus, TN=MN−MT=0.5(y+z)−0.5(y−x)=0.5(z+x)=CNTN = MN - MT = 0.5(y + z) - 0.5(y - x) = 0.5(z + x) = CN. Therefore △TNC\triangle TNC is an isosceles triangle ∠NTC=∠NCT\angle NTC = \angle NCT. Since MN∥ACMN \parallel AC we have ∠NTC=∠TCA\angle NTC = \angle TCA. From these two equalities we obtain ∠NCT=∠TCA\angle NCT = \angle TCA, i.e. CTCT is the bisector of ∠BCA\angle BCA.

Similar consideration can be applied for the case AC<BCAC < BC (see Fig. 2).

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