Olympiad Maths Prep

Track / Stage 6 / 398 of 400 #1398 of 2000

Problem 1398

National olympiad, first round
Geometry Difficulty 7.0 Prove it

Let ABCDABCD be a rhombus where DAB=60\angle DAB = 60^\circ, and PP be the intersection between ACAC and BDBD. Let Q,R,SQ,R,S be three points on the boundary of ABCDABCD such that PQRSPQRS is a rhombus. Prove that exactly one of Q,R,SQ,R,S lies on one of A,B,C,DA,B,C,D.

This one wants a proof. Work it on paper, read the official solution, then mark yourself honestly — the ladder only means something if the record is true.

Official solution

1. **Identify the properties of the rhombus ABCDABCD:**
- Since ABCDABCD is a rhombus, all sides are equal: AB=BC=CD=DAAB = BC = CD = DA.
- The diagonals ACAC and BDBD intersect at right angles and bisect each other.
- Given DAB=60\angle DAB = 60^\circ, we can infer that ABC=120\angle ABC = 120^\circ because the sum of the angles in a rhombus is 360360^\circ.

2. **Locate the intersection point PP:**
- The diagonals ACAC and BDBD intersect at point PP, which is the center of the rhombus.

3. **Assume RR is on ABAB:**
- Without loss of generality, let RR be on ABAB. Since PQRSPQRS is a rhombus, the diagonals of PQRSPQRS must be perpendicular and bisect each other at PP.

4. **Determine the positions of QQ and SS:**
- Since PQRSPQRS is a rhombus and RR is on ABAB, one of QQ or SS must be on ADAD and the other on BCBC. This ensures that the diagonals of PQRSPQRS are perpendicular and bisect each other at PP.

5. Analyze the parallelism and midpoint properties:
- The line segment PRPR must be parallel to ADAD and BCBC because the diagonals of PQRSPQRS are perpendicular and bisect each other at PP.
- Therefore, RR must be the midpoint of ABAB.

6. **Verify the equilateral triangle BPRBPR:**
- Since RR is the midpoint of ABAB, BPRBPR forms an equilateral triangle with BPR=60\angle BPR = 60^\circ.
- Given that the diagonals of PQRSPQRS are perpendicular, BB must be one of the vertices of PQRSPQRS, and the midpoint of ADAD must be the other vertex.

7. Conclusion:
- Since RR is on ABAB, and BB is one of the vertices of PQRSPQRS, exactly one of Q,R,SQ, R, S lies on one of A,B,C,DA, B, C, D.

\blacksquare

Source: NuminaMath-1.5, licensed Apache-2.0. Statement and solution reproduced as published; topic, difficulty and ordering added by this site.