Let be a triangle and let be its circumcircle. Let and be two parallel lines passing through points and , respectively. We denote by the intersection point, other than , between and the line . Similarly, we denote by the intersection point, other than , between and the line .
We assume that the lines and intersect at a point , and that the lines and intersect at a point . We then denote by , and the centers of the circumcircles of triangles , , and , respectively. Finally, we denote by the center of the circumcircle of triangle .
Prove that the line is parallel to both lines and .
Solution
Let's start by drawing a figure, taking care to highlight the triangle , since is the center of the circumcircle of this triangle. We also note , and as the circumcircles of , , and , respectively.
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We immediately notice that the points , and seem to be collinear, so we quickly set out to prove this. Indeed, the lines and are parallel to each other. Thales' theorem then indicates that there is a homothety , centered at , which maps the triangle to the triangle . We deduce that , and therefore that the points , , and are indeed collinear.
To prove that is parallel to and , we will now calculate the angle between the lines . To do this, we start by getting rid of the point by invoking the tangent at to : if we denote this tangent by , then
Since is the radical axis of the circles and , the lines and are perpendicular to each other. Similarly, and are perpendicular. We deduce that
By doing so, we have already eliminated the points , and , suggesting that we are on the right track. Our next victim will be the point . Indeed, if we denote by the symmetric point of with respect to , then is a diameter of , so
But then we have already won, since
which concludes the proof.
We reuse the names of the points and circles introduced in the previous solution.
Since the lines and are parallel, and since , and are concyclic, we know that and, similarly, . The triangles and are therefore similar. Consequently, the triangles and are also similar, so , and therefore the points , , and are collinear.
Next, since the line is the radical axis of the circles and , it is perpendicular to . We deduce, from the theorem of the angle at the center, and by denoting the symmetric point of with respect to , that
We show similarly that . The triangles and are therefore indirectly similar.
But then the triangles and are also indirectly similar. We conclude that
which means that is parallel to the line , and therefore to as well.
Remark: If one decides to use directed angles, it is important to never divide angles by two, for example, to use the theorem of the angle at the center or when encountering an isosceles triangle or an angle bisector. Indeed, here is an example of a horror that could result if one does not take this precaution:
«Since the line is the angle bisector of , we know that . Since is isosceles at , we deduce that
But this equality is of course completely false, since we actually have . Oops!»
The reason why the above reasoning is false is that directed angles are angles modulo . Consequently, if we divide a directed angle by two, we get a relation that is only valid modulo . We will therefore avoid, at all costs, if we decide to use directed angles, dividing angles by two.
Comment from the graders: The problem was solved by a small number of people. However, many students managed to make significant progress in the problem, trying to prove what they could conjecture from their figure, which is an excellent approach. Simple observations, such as the fact that the lines and are perpendicular, were actually valuable for solving the problem and were thus rewarded. Do not hesitate to write down all your ideas, even seemingly trivial observations.