Points , and lie in that order on line , such that and . Point is such that is perpendicular to . Determine the length such that is as large as possible.
Solution
Let denote the circumcircle of triangle . Since is fixed, the smaller the radius of , the bigger the angle . If crosses the line in more than one point, then there exists a smaller circle that goes through and that crosses at a point . But angle is greater than , contradicting our assumption that is the optimal spot. Thus the circle crosses the line at exactly one spot: ie, is tangent to at . By Power of a Point, , so .
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