Maths Olympiad Prep

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Geometry Difficulty 7.0 National olympiad Prove it

Construct outside the acute-angled triangle ABCABC the isosceles triangles ABABABA_B, ABBAABB_A, ACACACA_C, ACCAACC_A, BCBCBCB_C, and BCCBBCC_B, so that

AB=ABA=BAB,AC=ACA=CAC,BC=BCB=CBC AB = AB_A = BA_B, \quad AC = AC_A = CA_C, \quad BC = BC_B = CB_C

and

BABA=ABAB=CACA=ACAC=BCBC=CBCB=α<90. \measuredangle BAB_A = \measuredangle ABA_B = \measuredangle CAC_A = \measuredangle ACA_C = \measuredangle BCB_C = \measuredangle CBC_B = \alpha < 90^\circ.

Prove that the perpendiculars from AA to BACAB_A C_A, from BB to ABCBA_B C_B, and from CC to ACBCA_C B_C are concurrent.

Solution

Lemma. If BCDB C D is the isosceles triangle which is outside the triangle ABCA B C and has

CBD=BCD=90α:= not β, \measuredangle C B D=\measuredangle B C D=90^{\circ}-\alpha: \stackrel{\text { not }}{=} \beta,

then ADBACAA D \perp B_{A} C_{A}.
Proof of the lemma. Construct an isosceles triangle ABEA B E outside the triangle ABCA B C, so that ABE=AEB=β\measuredangle A B E=\measuredangle A E B=\beta.
Then AE=AB=ABAA E=A B=A B_{A} and EABA=α\measuredangle E A B_{A}=\alpha, so a rotation of center AA and angle α\alpha sends CAC_{A} to CC and BAB_{A} to EE, hence \Varangle(BACA,EC)=α\Varangle\left(\overrightarrow{B_{A} C_{A}}, \overrightarrow{E C}\right)=\alpha (the angle between vectors is considered oriented). Also triangles EBAE B A and BCDB C D are similar, so a rotation of center BB and angle β\beta, followed by
!
a dilation of ratio EBAB=BCBD\frac{E B}{A B}=\frac{B C}{B D} sends EE to AA and CC to DD, hence (EC,AD)=β\measuredangle(\overrightarrow{E C}, \overrightarrow{A D})=\beta (also oriented angle).
This shows that

(BACA,AD)=(BACA,EC)+(EC,AD)=α+β=90. \measuredangle\left(\overrightarrow{B_{A} C_{A}}, \overrightarrow{A D}\right)=\measuredangle\left(\overrightarrow{B_{A} C_{A}}, \overrightarrow{E C}\right)+\measuredangle(\overrightarrow{E C}, \overrightarrow{A D})=\alpha+\beta=90^{\circ} .

Returning to the solution of the problem, denote AA^{\prime} the intersection of BCB C with the perpendicular from AA to BACAB_{A} C_{A}. Then AA^{\prime} belongs to the segment BCB C and

ABAC=ABsin(B+β)ACsin(C+β) \frac{A^{\prime} B}{A^{\prime} C}=\frac{A B \sin (B+\beta)}{A C \sin (C+\beta)}

Since similar relations are true for the intersections B,CB^{\prime}, C^{\prime} of the other two perpendiculars with the opposite sides, this yields

ABACBCBACACB=ABsin(B+β)ACsin(C+β)BCsin(C+β)BAsin(A+β)CAsin(A+β)CBsin(B+β)=1 \frac{A^{\prime} B}{A^{\prime} C} \cdot \frac{B^{\prime} C}{B^{\prime} A} \cdot \frac{C^{\prime} A}{C^{\prime} B}=\frac{A B \sin (B+\beta)}{A C \sin (C+\beta)} \cdot \frac{B C \sin (C+\beta)}{B A \sin (A+\beta)} \cdot \frac{C A \sin (A+\beta)}{C B \sin (B+\beta)}=1

whence the conclusion.
Remark. The conditions 'acute-angled' and ' α<90\alpha<90^{\circ} ' are not essential, but without them there are cases when AA^{\prime} does not belong to the segment BCB C, or the perpendiculars become parallel.

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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.