Problem:
Let be a convex quadrilateral such that the circle with diameter is tangent to the line , and the circle with diameter is tangent to the line . Prove that the two intersection points of these circles and the point are collinear.
Problem:
Let be a convex quadrilateral such that the circle with diameter is tangent to the line , and the circle with diameter is tangent to the line . Prove that the two intersection points of these circles and the point are collinear.
Solution:
Let be the tangency point of with the first circle and the tangency point of with the second circle. Further, let be the intersection of with . As we aim to use Pappus's theorem, we also introduce the points and .
We claim that AYQ DXQ YBR XCR. Let and . By the tangent chord theorem, , and as , we have that . Similarly, by the tangent chord theorem, , and as , we have that . Observe that
hence . The claim follows immediately.
It now follows from the similarities that and are on the power line of the two circles, as and . By Pappus's theorem, , , and are collinear, so 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.
