Maths Olympiad Prep

Track / Stage 7 / 107 of 300 #1507 of 1964

Problem 1507

National olympiad second round; IMO P1/P4
Geometry Difficulty 7.2 Prove it

Let ABCABC be a triangle and DD be the mid-point of BCBC. Suppose the angle bisector of ADC\angle ADC is tangent to the circumcircle of triangle ABDABD at DD. Prove that A=90\angle A=90^{\circ}.

This one wants a proof. Work it on paper, then read the official solution and mark yourself. Be honest about it: the record is only any use to you if it is.

Official solution

1. Let \ell be the angle bisector of ADC \angle ADC . Since D D is the midpoint of BC BC , we have BD=DC BD = DC .
2. Let X X \in \ell such that AX>BX AX > BX . Also, let AC=Y \ell \cap AC = Y .
3. Since \ell is the angle bisector of ADC \angle ADC , we have ADY=YDC \angle ADY = \angle YDC .
4. Given that the angle bisector \ell is tangent to the circumcircle of triangle ABD ABD at D D , we know that ADY=XDB \angle ADY = \angle XDB (by the tangent-secant angle theorem).
5. Since XDB=DAB \angle XDB = \angle DAB (as D D is the point of tangency), we have:
ADY=DAB \angle ADY = \angle DAB
6. From the above, we can infer that ABC=ADY \angle ABC = \angle ADY .
7. Since D D is the midpoint of BC BC , we have BD=DC BD = DC . Also, since ADY=DAB \angle ADY = \angle DAB , it implies that ABD \triangle ABD is isosceles with AD=BD AD = BD .
8. Therefore, BD=DC=AD BD = DC = AD , making ABD \triangle ABD and ADC \triangle ADC isosceles with AD AD as the common side.
9. Since ADY=DAB \angle ADY = \angle DAB and ABC=ADY \angle ABC = \angle ADY , we have:
ABC=DAB \angle ABC = \angle DAB
10. Given that ABC=DAB \angle ABC = \angle DAB and BD=DC=AD BD = DC = AD , it follows that A=90 \angle A = 90^\circ .

\blacksquare

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