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Geometry Difficulty 4.7 AIME Prove it

Let PP be a point in the plane of triangle ABCABC, and γ\gamma a line passing through PP. Let AA', BB', CC' be the points where the reflections of lines PAPA, PBPB, PCPC with respect to γ\gamma intersect lines BCBC, ACAC, ABAB, respectively. Prove that AA', BB', CC' are collinear.

Solution

By the sine law on triangle ABPAB'P,
ABsinAPB=APsinABP,\frac{AB'}{\sin \angle APB'} = \frac{AP}{\sin \angle AB'P},
so
AB=APsinAPBsinABP.AB' = AP \cdot \frac{\sin \angle APB'}{\sin \angle AB'P}.
[asy] import graph; import geometry; unitsize(0.5 cm); pair[] A, B, C; pair P, R; A[0] = (2,12); B[0] = (0,0); C[0] = (14,0); P = (4,5); R = 5*dir(70); A[1] = extension(B[0],C[0],P,reflect(P + R,P - R)*(A[0])); B[1] = extension(C[0],A[0],P,reflect(P + R,P - R)*(B[0])); C[1] = extension(A[0],B[0],P,reflect(P + R,P - R)*(C[0])); draw((P - R)--(P + R),red); draw(A[1]--B[1]--C[1]--cycle,blue); draw(A[0]--B[0]--C[0]--cycle); draw(A[0]--P); draw(B[0]--P); draw(C[0]--P); draw(P--A[1]); draw(P--B[1]); draw(P--C[1]); draw(A[1]--B[0]); draw(A[1]--B[0]); label("AA", A[0], N); label("BB", B[0], S); label("CC", C[0], SE); dot("AA'", A[1], SW); dot("BB'", B[1], NE); dot("CC'", C[1], W); dot("PP", P, SE); label("γ\gamma", P + R, N); [/asy]
Similarly,
\begin{align*} B'C &= CP \cdot \frac{\sin \angle CPB'}{\sin \angle CB'P}, \\ CA' &= CP \cdot \frac{\sin \angle CPA'}{\sin \angle CA'P}, \\ A'B &= BP \cdot \frac{\sin \angle BPA'}{\sin \angle BA'P}, \\ BC' &= BP \cdot \frac{\sin \angle BPC'}{\sin \angle BC'P}, \\ C'A &= AP \cdot \frac{\sin \angle APC'}{\sin \angle AC'P}. \end{align*}
Hence,
\begin{align*} &\frac{AB'}{B'C} \cdot \frac{CA'}{A'B} \cdot \frac{BC'}{C'A} \\ &= \frac{\sin \angle APB'}{\sin \angle AB'P} \cdot \frac{\sin \angle CB'P}{\sin \angle CPB'} \cdot \frac{\sin \angle CPA'}{\sin \angle CA'P} \cdot \frac{\sin \angle BA'P}{\sin \angle BPA'} \cdot \frac{\sin \angle BPC'}{\sin \angle BC'P} \cdot \frac{\sin \angle AC'P}{\sin \angle APC'}. \end{align*}
Since angles ABP\angle AB'P and CBP\angle CB'P are supplementary or equal, depending on the position of BB' on ACAC,
sinABP=sinCBP.\sin \angle AB'P = \sin \angle CB'P.
Similarly,
\begin{align*} \sin \angle CA'P &= \sin \angle BA'P, \\ \sin \angle BC'P &= \sin \angle AC'P. \end{align*}
By the reflective property, APB\angle APB' and BPA\angle BPA' are supplementary or equal, so
sinAPB=sinBPA.\sin \angle APB' = \sin \angle BPA'.
Similarly,
\begin{align*} \sin \angle CPA' &= \sin \angle APC', \\ \sin \angle BPC' &= \sin \angle CPB'. \end{align*}
Therefore,
ABBCCAABBCCA=1,\frac{AB'}{B'C} \cdot \frac{CA'}{A'B} \cdot \frac{BC'}{C'A} = 1,
so by Menelaus's theorem, AA', BB', and CC' are collinear.

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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.