Olympiad Maths Prep

Track / Stage 7 / 35 of 300 #1435 of 2000

Problem 1435

National olympiad second round; IMO P1/P4
Geometry Difficulty 7.1 Prove it

Show that the four perpendiculars dropped from the midpoints of the sides of a cyclic quadrilateral to the respective opposite sides are concurrent.

[b]Note by Darij:[/b] A [i]cyclic quadrilateral [/i]is a quadrilateral inscribed in a circle.

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. Define the vertices and midpoints:
Let a,b,c,da, b, c, d be the complex numbers (affixes) representing the vertices of the cyclic quadrilateral ABCDABCD. The midpoints of the sides AB,BC,CD,DAAB, BC, CD, DA are given by:
m1=a+b2,m2=b+c2,m3=c+d2,m4=d+a2 m_1 = \frac{a+b}{2}, \quad m_2 = \frac{b+c}{2}, \quad m_3 = \frac{c+d}{2}, \quad m_4 = \frac{d+a}{2}

2. Assume the center of the circle:
Assume the center of the circle OO is at the origin, i.e., O(0)O(0).

3. Define the perpendiculars:
Let i\ell_i be the perpendicular dropped from mim_i to the opposite side of the quadrilateral.

4. Form a parallelogram:
Consider the quadrilateral formed by the perpendicular bisectors of ABAB and CDCD and the lines 1\ell_1 and 3\ell_3. This quadrilateral is a parallelogram with OO as one of its vertices.

5. Intersection points:
The intersection point of 1\ell_1 and 3\ell_3 has the affix:
m1+m3=a+b2+c+d2=a+b+c+d2 m_1 + m_3 = \frac{a+b}{2} + \frac{c+d}{2} = \frac{a+b+c+d}{2}
Similarly, the intersection point of 2\ell_2 and 4\ell_4 has the affix:
m2+m4=b+c2+d+a2=a+b+c+d2 m_2 + m_4 = \frac{b+c}{2} + \frac{d+a}{2} = \frac{a+b+c+d}{2}

6. Conclusion:
Since m1+m3=m2+m4=a+b+c+d2m_1 + m_3 = m_2 + m_4 = \frac{a+b+c+d}{2}, it follows that the lines 1,2,3,4\ell_1, \ell_2, \ell_3, \ell_4 are concurrent at the point with affix a+b+c+d2\frac{a+b+c+d}{2}.

\blacksquare

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