Maths Olympiad Prep

Library / /6 of 8

Geometry Difficulty 8.6 Shortlist Prove it United States

Two circles ω1\omega_1 and ω2\omega_2 intersect at points AA and BB. Line ll is tangent to ω1\omega_1 at PP and to ω2\omega_2 at QQ so that AA is closer to ll than BB. Let XX and YY be points on major arcs PA^\widehat{PA} (on ω1\omega_1) and AQ^\widehat{AQ} (on ω2\omega_2), respectively, such that AX/PX=AY/QY=cAX/PX = AY/QY = c. Extend segments PAPA and QAQA through AA to RR and SS, respectively, such that AR=AS=cPQAR = AS = c \cdot PQ. Given that the circumcenter of triangle ARSARS lies on line XYXY, prove that XPA=AQY\angle XPA = \angle AQY.

(This problem was suggested by Delong Meng.)

Figure 1

Solutions — 2

Solution 1

Figure 1
Let OO denote the circumcenter of triangle ASRASR. Let O1O_1 denote the image of OO under χ\chi. Since χ\chi takes triangle OASOAS to triangle O1QPO_1QP, we have O1QPOASORA\triangle O_1QP \sim \triangle OAS \sim \triangle ORA. Hence, ϕ\phi takes triangle ORAORA to triangle O1QPO_1QP. This means triangle XOO1XOO_1 is similar to triangle XAPXAP.
Thus, OX/O1X=AX/PX=AY/QY=O1Y/OYOX/O_1X = AX/PX = AY/QY = O_1Y/OY. By the Angle Bisector Theorem, O1OO_1O bisects angle XO1YXO_1Y. However, XO1O=XPA\angle XO_1O = \angle XPA and OO1Y=AQY\angle OO_1Y = \angle AQY. Therefore, XPA=AQY\angle XPA = \angle AQY.

Solution 2

We present an alternate way to finish the proof after making the observations in the first paragraph of Solution 1. Let θ\theta denote the spiral similarity centered at OO that takes RR to AA. Consider the images of PP and QQ under the composition χ1θϕ\chi^{-1} \circ \theta \circ \phi, which is itself a spiral similarity. We have PASPP \mapsto A \mapsto S \mapsto P and QARQQ \mapsto A \mapsto R \mapsto Q, so the composition is a spiral similarity fixing two points and hence the identity.

Let X1=θ(X)X_1 = \theta(X). The successive images of XX under this composition are XXX1XX \mapsto X \mapsto X_1 \mapsto X, which shows that X1=χ(X)X_1 = \chi(X). We have XOX1=AOS=AXP+AYQ\angle XOX_1 = \angle AOS = \angle AXP + \angle AYQ, so OXX1=9012(AXP+AYQ)\angle OXX_1 = 90^\circ - \frac{1}{2}(\angle AXP + \angle AYQ). But X1=χ(X)X_1 = \chi(X), so OXX1=YQA\angle OXX_1 = \angle YQA. Equating the two expressions, we obtain YQA=9012(AXP+AYQ)\angle YQA = 90^\circ - \frac{1}{2}(\angle AXP + \angle AYQ). Similarly, we have APX=9012(AXP+AYQ)\angle APX = 90^\circ - \frac{1}{2}(\angle AXP + \angle AYQ). Together, these imply that XPA=AQY\angle XPA = \angle AQY.

Want a route through all this instead of an archive? The track puts 2,000 problems in a working order, from AMC 10 level to the IMO shortlist.

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