Let be a convex pentagon such that
The diagonals and meet at . Prove that the line bisects the side .
Solution
Let the diagonals and meet at , the diagonals and meet at , and let the ray meet the side at . We want to prove that holds. ! The idea is to show that and divide and in the same ratio, or more precisely (which is equivalent to ). The given angle equalities imply that the triangles , and are similar. We therefore have Since , it follows from that the triangles and are also similar. Their angle bisectors in are and , respectively, so that Because , we obtain , which is equivalent to (1). Now Ceva's theorem for the triangle yields In view of (1), this reduces to , which completes the proof. Comment. Relation (1) immediately follows from the fact that quadrilaterals and are similar.
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