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Geometry Difficulty 7.1 National olympiad, round 2 Prove it

A finite number of parallel segments in the plane are given with the property that for any three of the segments there is a line intersecting each of them. Prove that there exists a line that intersects all the given segments.

Solution

1. Setup and Assumptions:
Suppose there are n n parallel segments A1B1,A2B2,,AnBn A_1B_1, A_2B_2, \ldots, A_nB_n in the plane, all parallel to the x-axis. Assume that the segments are ordered such that AkBk A_kB_k is above Ak+1Bk+1 A_{k+1}B_{k+1} for all k k , and Ak A_k is the left endpoint while Bk B_k is the right endpoint of the segment.

2. **Initial Line L1 L_1 **:
Consider a line L1 L_1 that joins B1 B_1 and Bm B_m for some m m . We choose m m such that all points Bi B_i (for i=1,2,,n i = 1, 2, \ldots, n ) are either on L1 L_1 or to the right of L1 L_1 . This is possible because if any Bi B_i lies to the left of L1 L_1 , we can choose m=i m = i and repeat the process until all Bi B_i are to the right of L1 L_1 .

3. **Position of Ai A_i Relative to L1 L_1 **:
Now, if there exists an i<m i < m such that Ai A_i lies to the right of L1 L_1 , then there would be no line passing through the segments A1B1,AiBi,AmBm A_1B_1, A_iB_i, A_mB_m , which contradicts the given condition. Therefore, all Ai A_i (for i<m i < m ) must lie to the left of L1 L_1 .

4. **Line L2 L_2 **:
Next, consider a line L2 L_2 that joins Bm B_m and Ak A_k for some k<m k < m . We choose k k such that all points Ai A_i (for i<m i < m ) lie to the left of L2 L_2 .

5. **Position of Bi B_i Relative to L2 L_2 **:
If there exists a Bi B_i (for i>m i > m ) that lies to the left of L2 L_2 , we consider a line L3 L_3 that joins Bm B_m and Bj B_j for some j>m j > m . We choose j j such that all points Bi B_i (for i>m i > m ) lie to the right of L3 L_3 . If no such Bi B_i exists, let L3L2 L_3 \equiv L_2 .

6. **Final Line L3 L_3 **:
Now, all Bi B_i (for i>m i > m ) lie to the right of L3 L_3 , and all Ai A_i (for i<m i < m ) lie to the left of L3 L_3 . Thus, L3 L_3 intersects all the segments A1B1,A2B2,,AnBn A_1B_1, A_2B_2, \ldots, A_nB_n .

Therefore, we have shown that there exists a line that intersects all the given segments.

\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.