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Geometry Difficulty 7.1 National olympiad, round 2 Prove it

Circles ω1,ω2\omega_1 , \omega_2 intersect at points X,YX,Y and they are internally tangent to circle Ω\Omega at points A,BA,B,respectively.ABAB intersect with ω1,ω2\omega_1 , \omega_2 at points A1,B1A_1,B_1 ,respectively.Another circle is internally tangent to ω1,ω2\omega_1 , \omega_2 and A1B1A_1B_1 at ZZ.Prove that AXZ=BXZ\angle AXZ =\angle BXZ.(C.Ilyasov)

Solution

1. Identify the External Similitude Center:
Let H H be the external similitude center of circles ω1 \omega_1 and ω2 \omega_2 . By Monge's Theorem, the external similitude center of two circles and the internal similitude center of the same two circles lie on the line joining their centers. Since ω1 \omega_1 and ω2 \omega_2 are internally tangent to Ω \Omega at points A A and B B respectively, H H lies on the line AB AB .

2. **Inversion with Pole H H :**
Consider an inversion with pole H H . This inversion will map the circles ω1 \omega_1 and ω2 \omega_2 to themselves because H H is their external similitude center. The inversion will also map the points A A and B B to themselves because they lie on the line AB AB .

3. Fixing the Small Circle:
The small circle that is internally tangent to ω1 \omega_1 , ω2 \omega_2 , and A1B1 A_1B_1 at Z Z is fixed by this inversion. This is because the inversion with pole H H interchanges ω1 \omega_1 and ω2 \omega_2 and fixes the small circle that is tangent to both.

4. Equality of Power of Point:
Since the inversion fixes the small circle, we have:
HX2=HZ2=HAHB HX^2 = HZ^2 = HA \cdot HB
This implies that the circle with center H H and radius HY HY is an Apollonian circle of XAB XAB .

5. Apollonian Circle Property:
By the property of the Apollonian circle, the angles subtended by the points A A and B B at any point on the circle are equal. Therefore, we have:
AXZ=BXZ \angle AXZ = \angle BXZ

Thus, we have proven that AXZ=BXZ\angle AXZ = \angle BXZ.

\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.