are consecutive vertices of a regular -gon. and are tangents to the circle center radius . is the intersection point of and . Show that are collinear.
Problem 1535
Official solution
1. Identify the given elements and their properties:
- are consecutive vertices of a regular -gon.
- and are tangents to the circle centered at with radius .
- is the intersection point of and .
2. Establish the cyclic nature of the polygons:
- Since are vertices of a regular -gon, they lie on a common circle (the circumcircle of the -gon).
- Points lie on a circle with center and radius because and are points where tangents from touch the circle centered at .
3. **Prove that is cyclic:**
- Since and are tangents to the circle centered at , we have and .
- This implies that .
- Therefore, quadrilateral is cyclic because opposite angles sum to .
4. Apply the Radical Axis Theorem:
- The Radical Axis Theorem states that for three circles, the radical axes of each pair of circles are concurrent.
- Consider the three circles:
- The circumcircle of .
- The circle with center and radius (containing ).
- The circle containing .
- The radical axis of the circumcircle of and the circle containing is line .
- The radical axis of the circumcircle of and the circle containing is line .
- The radical axis of the circle containing and the circle containing is line .
5. **Show concurrency of , , and :**
- By the Radical Axis Theorem, the lines , , and are concurrent.
- Since is the intersection point of and , it must also lie on .
6. **Conclude that are collinear:**
- Since lies on , points are collinear.