Consider a circle and two fixed points on such that is not the diameter of . is an arbitrary point on , distinct from . Let be the midpoints of , respectively, be the feet of perpendiculars from to , to , to , respectively. The two tangents at to the circumcircle of triangle meet at . Prove that is a fixed point (as moves on ).
Problem 1751
Official solution
1. Define the Problem Setup:
- Consider a circle with fixed points and such that is not the diameter of .
- Let be an arbitrary point on , distinct from and .
- Define , , and as the midpoints of , , and , respectively.
- Define , , and as the feet of the perpendiculars from to , to , and to , respectively.
- The tangents at and to the circumcircle of triangle meet at .
2. Identify Key Points and Properties:
- Let be the orthocenter of . Then and lie on the circumcircle of .
- Let be a point on the circumcircle of such that forms a rectangle.
3. Use Harmonic Division:
- The harmonic division property states that .
- Projecting through , we get , implying that lies on and .
4. Lemma Application:
- Consider the medial triangle of .
- Let and be the feet from and to and , respectively.
- By the sine rule in and , we can show that and are isogonal with respect to .
5. Circumcircle Intersections:
- Let and intersect at points and , respectively.
- Let and intersect at points and .
- Let and intersect and at points and , respectively.
6. Cyclic Quadrilaterals and Reflections:
- Since and are diameters of , we have .
- Since , lies on and lies on .
- and .
- Points and are reflections of and over , implying and and are cyclic.
7. Orthocenter Reflection:
- The reflection of over lies on , implying lies on .
- Let and be the midpoints of and , respectively.
- Since is the perpendicular bisector of , .
8. Cyclic Quadrilateral and Radical Center:
- Since is cyclic, we have .
- Thus, and .
- Therefore, is the radical center of , , and , which are all fixed circles.
9. Conclusion:
- Since the radical center of fixed circles is itself fixed, is a fixed point as moves on .