Maths Olympiad Prep

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Geometry Difficulty 7.5 National olympiad, round 2 Prove it

Let k k and k k' two concentric circles centered at O O, with k k' being larger than k k. A line through O O intersects k k at A A and k k' at B B such that O O seperates A A and B B. Another line through O O intersects k k at E E and k k' at F F such that E E separates O O and F F.
Show that the circumcircle of OAE \triangle{OAE} and the circles with diametres AB AB and EF EF have a common point.

Solution

1. Define the circles and points:
Let k k and k k' be two concentric circles centered at O O , with k k' being larger than k k . A line through O O intersects k k at A A and k k' at B B such that O O separates A A and B B . Another line through O O intersects k k at E E and k k' at F F such that E E separates O O and F F .

2. **Define the circles with diameters AB AB and EF EF :**
Let m m be the circle with diameter AB AB and n n be the circle with diameter EF EF .

3. Draw tangents to the circles:
Draw tangents to m m at A A and B B . Let these tangents meet at point M M . Similarly, draw tangents to n n at E E and F F . Let these tangents meet at point N N .

4. **Radical axis of circles m m and n n :**
The points M M and N N have equal powers with respect to m m and n n . Therefore, the line MN MN is the radical axis of m m and n n .

5. **Intersection of the circumcircle of OAE \triangle OAE with MN MN :**
Observe that M M lies on the circumcircle of OAE \triangle OAE . However, this is not the required point since its power with respect to n n is MF2>0 MF^2 > 0 . Let P P be the projection of O O on MN MN . This P P is the second intersection of the circumcircle of OAE \triangle OAE with MN MN .

6. Angles and cyclic quadrilaterals:
We claim that P P is the required point. Note that OPE=EAO \angle OPE = \angle EAO since A,O,E,P,M A, O, E, P, M are concyclic. Since OA=OE OA = OE , we have OEA=OAE=OPE \angle OEA = \angle OAE = \angle OPE .

7. **Cyclic quadrilateral PONF PONF :**
Also, FPN=FON=NOB \angle FPN = \angle FON = \angle NOB since PONF PONF is cyclic and FN=NB FN = NB . Thus, EOB=2OPE=2FPN \angle EOB = 2\angle OPE = 2\angle FPN .

8. Conclusion:
Therefore, FPE=EPN+FPN=EPN+OPE=π2 \angle FPE = \angle EPN + \angle FPN = \angle EPN + \angle OPE = \frac{\pi}{2} . So, Pn P \in n and since MN MN is the radical axis, P P is also on m m .

\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.