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Geometry Difficulty 7.2 National olympiad, round 2 Prove it

Let ABCA B C be a triangle with circumcircle ω\omega and incentre II. A line \ell intersects the lines AI,BIA I, B I, and CIC I at points D,ED, E, and FF, respectively, distinct from the points A,B,CA, B, C, and II. The perpendicular bisectors x,yx, y, and zz of the segments AD,BEA D, B E, and CFC F, respectively determine a triangle Θ\Theta. Show that the circumcircle of the triangle Θ\Theta is tangent to ω\omega. (Denmark) Preamble. Let X=yz,Y=xz,Z=xyX=y \cap z, Y=x \cap z, Z=x \cap y and let Ω\Omega denote the circumcircle of the triangle XYZX Y Z. Denote by X0,Y0X_{0}, Y_{0}, and Z0Z_{0} the second intersection points of AI,BIA I, B I and CIC I, respectively, with ω\omega. It is known that Y0Z0Y_{0} Z_{0} is the perpendicular bisector of AI,Z0X0A I, Z_{0} X_{0} is the perpendicular bisector of BIB I, and X0Y0X_{0} Y_{0} is the perpendicular bisector of CIC I. In particular, the triangles XYZX Y Z and X0Y0Z0X_{0} Y_{0} Z_{0} are homothetic, because their corresponding sides are parallel. The solutions below mostly exploit the following approach. Consider the triangles XYZX Y Z and X0Y0Z0X_{0} Y_{0} Z_{0}, or some other pair of homothetic triangles Δ\Delta and δ\delta inscribed into Ω\Omega and ω\omega, respectively. In order to prove that Ω\Omega and ω\omega are tangent, it suffices to show that the centre TT of the homothety taking Δ\Delta to δ\delta lies on ω\omega (or Ω\Omega), or, in other words, to show that Δ\Delta and δ\delta are perspective (i.e., the lines joining corresponding vertices are concurrent), with their perspector lying on ω\omega (or Ω\Omega). We use directed angles throughout all the solutions.

Solution

Claim 1. The reflections a,b\ell_{a}, \ell_{b} and c\ell_{c} of the line \ell in the lines x,yx, y, and zz, respectively, are concurrent at a point TT which belongs to ω\omega. ! Proof. Notice that (b,c)=(b,)+(,c)=2(y,)+2(,z)=2(y,z)\angle\left(\ell_{b}, \ell_{c}\right)=\angle\left(\ell_{b}, \ell\right)+\angle\left(\ell, \ell_{c}\right)=2 \angle(y, \ell)+2 \angle(\ell, z)=2 \angle(y, z). But yBIy \perp B I and zCIz \perp C I implies (y,z)=(BI,IC)\angle(y, z)=\angle(B I, I C), so, since 2(BI,IC)=(BA,AC)2 \angle(B I, I C)=\angle(B A, A C), we obtain (b,c)=(BA,AC). \angle\left(\ell_{b}, \ell_{c}\right)=\angle(B A, A C) . Since AA is the reflection of DD in xx, AA belongs to a\ell_{a}; similarly, BB belongs to b\ell_{b}. Then (1) shows that the common point TT^{\prime} of a\ell_{a} and b\ell_{b} lies on ω\omega; similarly, the common point TT^{\prime \prime} of c\ell_{c} and b\ell_{b} lies on ω\omega. If BaB \notin \ell_{a} and BcB \notin \ell_{c}, then TT^{\prime} and TT^{\prime \prime} are the second point of intersection of b\ell_{b} and ω\omega, hence they coincide. Otherwise, if, say, BcB \in \ell_{c}, then c=BC\ell_{c}=B C, so (BA,AC)=(b,c)=(b,BC)\angle(B A, A C)=\angle\left(\ell_{b}, \ell_{c}\right)=\angle\left(\ell_{b}, B C\right), which shows that b\ell_{b} is tangent at BB to ω\omega and T=T=BT^{\prime}=T^{\prime \prime}=B. So TT^{\prime} and TT^{\prime \prime} coincide in all the cases, and the conclusion of the claim follows. Now we prove that X,X0,TX, X_{0}, T are collinear. Denote by DbD_{b} and DcD_{c} the reflections of the point DD in the lines yy and zz, respectively. Then DbD_{b} lies on b,Dc\ell_{b}, D_{c} lies on c\ell_{c}, and (DbX,XDc)=(DbX,DX)+(DX,XDc)=2(y,DX)+2(DX,z)=2(y,z)=(BA,AC)=(BT,TC), \begin{aligned} \angle\left(D_{b} X, X D_{c}\right) & =\angle\left(D_{b} X, D X\right)+\angle\left(D X, X D_{c}\right)=2 \angle(y, D X)+2 \angle(D X, z)=2 \angle(y, z) \\ & =\angle(B A, A C)=\angle(B T, T C), \end{aligned} hence the quadrilateral XDbTDcX D_{b} T D_{c} is cyclic. Notice also that since XDb=XD=XDcX D_{b}=X D=X D_{c}, the points D,Db,DcD, D_{b}, D_{c} lie on a circle with centre XX. Using in this circle the diameter DcDcD_{c} D_{c}^{\prime} yields (DbDc,DcX)=90+(DbDc,DcX)=90+(DbD,DDc)\angle\left(D_{b} D_{c}, D_{c} X\right)=90^{\circ}+\angle\left(D_{b} D_{c}^{\prime}, D_{c}^{\prime} X\right)=90^{\circ}+\angle\left(D_{b} D, D D_{c}\right). Therefore, (b,XT)=(DbT,XT)=(DbDc,DcX)=90+(DbD,DDc)=90+(BI,IC)=(BA,AI)=(BA,AX0)=(BT,TX0)=(b,X0T) \begin{gathered} \angle\left(\ell_{b}, X T\right)=\angle\left(D_{b} T, X T\right)=\angle\left(D_{b} D_{c}, D_{c} X\right)=90^{\circ}+\angle\left(D_{b} D, D D_{c}\right) \\ =90^{\circ}+\angle(B I, I C)=\angle(B A, A I)=\angle\left(B A, A X_{0}\right)=\angle\left(B T, T X_{0}\right)=\angle\left(\ell_{b}, X_{0} T\right) \end{gathered} so the points X,X0,TX, X_{0}, T are collinear. By a similar argument, Y,Y0,TY, Y_{0}, T and Z,Z0,TZ, Z_{0}, T are collinear. As mentioned in the preamble, the statement of the problem follows. Comment 1. After proving Claim 1 one may proceed in another way. As it was shown, the reflections of \ell in the sidelines of XYZX Y Z are concurrent at TT. Thus \ell is the Steiner line of TT with respect to XYZ\triangle X Y Z (that is the line containing the reflections Ta,Tb,TcT_{a}, T_{b}, T_{c} of TT in the sidelines of XYZX Y Z ). The properties of the Steiner line imply that TT lies on Ω\Omega, and \ell passes through the orthocentre HH of the triangle XYZX Y Z. ! Let Ha,HbH_{a}, H_{b}, and HcH_{c} be the reflections of the point HH in the lines x,yx, y, and zz, respectively. Then the triangle HaHbHcH_{a} H_{b} H_{c} is inscribed in Ω\Omega and homothetic to ABCA B C (by an easy angle chasing). Since Haa,HbbH_{a} \in \ell_{a}, H_{b} \in \ell_{b}, and HccH_{c} \in \ell_{c}, the triangles HaHbHcH_{a} H_{b} H_{c} and ABCA B C form a required pair of triangles Δ\Delta and δ\delta mentioned in the preamble. Comment 2. The following observation shows how one may guess the description of the tangency point TT from Solution 1. Let us fix a direction and move the line \ell parallel to this direction with constant speed. Then the points D,ED, E, and FF are moving with constant speeds along the lines AI,BIA I, B I, and CIC I, respectively. In this case x,yx, y, and zz are moving with constant speeds, defining a family of homothetic triangles XYZX Y Z with a common centre of homothety TT. Notice that the triangle X0Y0Z0X_{0} Y_{0} Z_{0} belongs to this family (for \ell passing through II ). We may specify the location of TT considering the degenerate case when x,yx, y, and zz are concurrent. In this degenerate case all the lines x,y,z,,a,b,cx, y, z, \ell, \ell_{a}, \ell_{b}, \ell_{c} have a common point. Note that the lines a,b,c\ell_{a}, \ell_{b}, \ell_{c} remain constant as \ell is moving (keeping its direction). Thus TT should be the common point of a,b\ell_{a}, \ell_{b}, and c\ell_{c}, lying on ω\omega.

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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.