(A.Zaslavsky, 9--10) Quadrilateral is circumscribed arounda circle with center . Prove that the projections of points and to the lines and lie on a single circle.
Solution
1. Define Projections: Denote by and the orthogonal projections of on the lines and , respectively. Similarly, let and be the projections of on the same lines and , respectively.
2. Lemma Application: Consider the following lemma:
Lemma: Let be a triangle, and denote by the midpoint of segment . If and are the orthogonal projections of the vertices and on the internal angle bisector of angle , then .
Proof of Lemma:
- Let be the intersection of the line with the sideline . Since is isosceles, the length of segment is .
- and are the midpoints of segments and , respectively. Thus, .
3. Apply Lemma to Quadrilateral: Returning to the problem, let be the midpoint of the diagonal . According to the lemma applied to , we have:
Similarly, applying the lemma to , we have:
4. Use Pitot's Theorem: For a circumscribed quadrilateral , Pitot's theorem states:
This implies:
5. Conclude Equal Distances: From the above, we conclude:
This means that the projections of and on the lines and lie on a single circle with center , the midpoint of diagonal .