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Geometry Difficulty 8.1 Shortlist Prove it Switzerland

Problem:

Let ABCDABCD be a convex quadrilateral such that the circle with diameter ABAB is tangent to the line CDCD, and the circle with diameter CDCD is tangent to the line ABAB. Prove that the two intersection points of these circles and the point ACBDAC \cap BD are collinear.

Solution

Solution:

Let XX be the tangency point of CDCD with the first circle and YY the tangency point of ABAB with the second circle. Further, let PP be the intersection of ACAC with BDBD. As we aim to use Pappus's theorem, we also introduce the points Q=AXDYQ = AX \cap DY and R=BXCYR = BX \cap CY.

We claim that \triangle AYQ \sim \triangle DXQ \sim \triangle YBR \sim \triangle XCR. Let α=YAQ\alpha = \angle YAQ and β=QYA\beta = \angle QYA. By the tangent chord theorem, RXC=α\angle RXC = \alpha, and as AXB=90\angle AXB = 90^\circ, we have that DXQ=90α\angle DXQ = 90^\circ - \alpha. Similarly, by the tangent chord theorem, XCR=β\angle XCR = \beta, and as CYD=90\angle CYD = 90^\circ, we have that QDX=90β\angle QDX = 90^\circ - \beta. Observe that
180αβ=AQY=XQD=180(90α)(90β)=α+β 180^\circ - \alpha - \beta = \angle AQY = \angle XQD = 180^\circ - (90^\circ - \alpha) - (90^\circ - \beta) = \alpha + \beta
hence β=90α\beta = 90^\circ - \alpha. The claim follows immediately.

It now follows from the similarities that QQ and RR are on the power line of the two circles, as QAQX=QYQDQA \cdot QX = QY \cdot QD and RYRC=RBRXRY \cdot RC = RB \cdot RX. By Pappus's theorem, QQ, PP, and RR are collinear, so PP also lies on the power line. We are now done, as the line through the intersection points of the circles is always their power line.

Figure 1

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Source: MathNet, licensed CC-BY-4.0. Statement reproduced verbatim; metadata (topic, difficulty) added by this project.