Maths Olympiad Prep

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Geometry Difficulty 7.2 National olympiad, round 2 Prove it

Let ABCD ABCD be a triangular pyramid such that no face of the pyramid is a right triangle and the orthocenters of triangles ABC ABC, ABD ABD, and ACD ACD are collinear. Prove that the center of the sphere circumscribed to the pyramid lies on the plane passing through the midpoints of AB AB, AC AC and AD AD.

Solution

1. Projection and Perpendicularity:
- Let H H be the projection of A A onto the plane BCD BCD .
- Let X X , Y Y , and Z Z be the projections of H H onto lines CD CD , BD BD , and BC BC , respectively.
- Since AH AH is perpendicular to the plane BCD BCD , AH AH is perpendicular to BC BC . Similarly, AZ AZ is perpendicular to BC BC , implying BC BC is perpendicular to the plane AHZ AHZ and thus to HZ HZ .
- Similarly, BD BD is perpendicular to HY HY and CD CD is perpendicular to HX HX .

2. Orthocenters and Collinearity:
- Denote the orthocenters of triangles ACD ACD , ABD ABD , and ABC ABC by Hb H_b , Hc H_c , and Hd H_d , respectively.
- Hb H_b lies on line AX AX , Hc H_c on line AY AY , and Hd H_d on line AZ AZ .
- Since no face of the pyramid is a right triangle, Hb H_b , Hc H_c , and Hd H_d do not coincide at A A , X X , Y Y , or Z Z .

3. Plane and Line Intersection:
- Consider the plane AXY AXY . Both Hb H_b and Hc H_c lie on this plane, so line HbHc H_bH_c lies in the plane AXY AXY .
- Since Hb H_b , Hc H_c , and Hd H_d are collinear, Hd H_d also lies on this plane. Thus, line AHd AH_d lies in the plane AXY AXY .
- Point Z Z lies on both planes AXY AXY and BCD BCD , so Z Z lies on the intersection line of these planes, which is line XY XY .
- Therefore, X X , Y Y , and Z Z are collinear.

4. Simson Line and Circumcircle:
- Since X X , Y Y , and Z Z are the projections of H H onto lines CD CD , BD BD , and BC BC , respectively, by the Simson Theorem, H H lies on the circumcircle of triangle BCD BCD .

5. Circumcenter of the Pyramid:
- Consider a point O O on the plane passing through the midpoints of AB AB , AC AC , and AD AD , with its projection onto the plane BCD BCD being the circumcenter OA O_A of triangle BCD BCD .
- Let R R be the radius of the circumcircle of triangle BCD BCD .
- The distances OB OB , OC OC , and OD OD are all equal to OOA2+R2 \sqrt{|OO_A|^2 + R^2} .
- The distance OA OA is given by:
OA=HOA2+(AHOOA)2=HOA2+OOA2=OOA2+R2 |OA| = \sqrt{|HO_A|^2 + (|AH| - |OO_A|)^2} = \sqrt{|HO_A|^2 + |OO_A|^2} = \sqrt{|OO_A|^2 + R^2}
- Since O O lies on the plane passing through the midpoints of AB AB , AC AC , and AD AD , we have AH=2OOA |AH| = 2|OO_A| .

6. Conclusion:
- Therefore, O O is equidistant from A A , B B , C C , and D D , making O O the circumcenter of the pyramid.
- Hence, O O lies on the plane passing through the midpoints of AB AB , AC AC , and AD AD .

\blacksquare

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Source: NuminaMath-1.5, licensed Apache-2.0. Statement and solution reproduced as published; topic and difficulty added by this site.