Maths Olympiad Prep

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Geometry Difficulty 7.4 National olympiad, round 2 Prove it

(BEL4)(BEL 4) Let OO be a point on a nondegenerate conic. A right angle with vertex OO intersects the conic at points AA and BB. Prove that the line ABAB passes through a fixed point located on the normal to the conic through the point O.O.

Solution

1. **Label the given conic as H\mathcal{H} and identify the tangent line τ\tau to H\mathcal{H} at point OO.**
- Let ω\omega be an arbitrary fixed circle tangent to τ\tau at OO.
- Point OO is the center of a homology U:ωH\mathcal{U}: \omega \mapsto \mathcal{H}.

2. **Consider the points AA and BB where the right angle with vertex OO intersects the conic H\mathcal{H}.**
- Let OAOA and OBOB cut ω\omega again at AA' and BB', respectively. These points AA' and BB' are the homologous points of AA and BB under the homology U\mathcal{U}.

3. **Analyze the angles formed by the points AA', BB', and OO.**
- Since AOB=90\angle AOB = 90^\circ, it follows that AOB=90\angle A'OB' = 90^\circ as well.

4. **Determine the line ABA'B' in relation to the fixed point PP.**
- Because AOB=90\angle A'OB' = 90^\circ, the line ABA'B' always passes through the fixed center PP of the circle ω\omega.

5. **Map the fixed point PP under the homology U\mathcal{U}.**
- The image of the fixed point PP under the homology U\mathcal{U} is denoted as PP'.

6. **Conclude the behavior of the line ABAB.**
- Since ABA'B' always passes through PP, the line ABAB (the image of ABA'B' under U\mathcal{U}) always passes through the fixed point PP'.

7. **Relate the fixed point PP' to the normal line to H\mathcal{H} through OO.**
- Consequently, the chords ABAB pass through a fixed point on the normal line to H\mathcal{H} through OO.

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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.