Point lies on the circumscribed circle around , and are projections of point on and respectively. Prove that, if and are the middle points of and respectively, then is perpendicular to .
Problem 1595
Official solution
1. Identify Key Points and Projections:
- Let be a point on the circumscribed circle of .
- Let and be the projections of onto and , respectively.
- Let be the midpoint of .
- Let be the midpoint of .
2. Simson Line:
- By the Simson line theorem, the points , , and the foot of the perpendicular from to (let's call this point ) are collinear.
3. Cyclic Quadrilateral:
- Since and are projections of onto and , respectively, the quadrilateral is cyclic.
- This implies that and .
4. Angle Relationships:
- Since lies on the circumcircle of , and .
- Therefore, and .
5. Similarity of Triangles:
- From the above angle relationships, we have by AA similarity criterion.
6. Medians:
- is the median of .
- is the median of .
7. **Cyclic Quadrilateral :**
- Since and are medians, and , the quadrilateral is cyclic.
- This implies that .
8. Conclusion:
- Since , is perpendicular to .