is a cyclic quadrilateral in which , and , and are the feet of the perpendiculars from to lines , and respectively. Determine the value of .
Solution
Quadrilaterals and are cyclic, having right angles , and respectively. We see that , and are collinear. For, . Therefore, Menelaus' theorem applied to triangle MTB and line gives On the other hand, triangle is similar to triangle since and and thus . It follows that Remarks. The line , constructed in this problem by taking perpendiculars from a point on the circumcircle of , is known as the Simson line. It is often helpful for us to use directed angles while angle chasing to avoid supplementary configuration issues, such as those arising while establishing the collinearity of , and .
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