Maths Olympiad Prep

Track / Stage 5 / 280 of 400 #880 of 1964

Problem 880

AIME late
Geometry Difficulty 5.7 Prove it

4. On the side BCBC of the right-angled triangle ABCABC with C\angle C as the right angle, take a point DD between points BB and CC. On the segment BCBC, there is another point MM different from point DD. Draw a line AMAM through MM, intersecting the circumcircle SS of triangle ABCABC at point NN. Draw a circle through MM, DD, and NN, and the intersection point of this circle with circle SS other than NN is PP. Find the position of point MM that makes the segment MPMP the shortest.

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

We denote the smallest angle required to rotate line ll counterclockwise to be parallel to line nn as (l,n)\angle(l, n).

Lemma: Four non-collinear points P,Q,R,SP, Q, R, S are concyclic if and only if (QP,QR)=(SP,SR)\angle(Q P, Q R)=\angle(S P, S R) (Figure 1). This can be proven by the properties of angles subtended by the same arc in a circle.

Construct AKBC(KS)A K B C(K \in S) (Figure 2), and extend KDK D to intersect circle SS at P0P_{0}. We will prove that for every point MM satisfying the problem's conditions, PP coincides with P0P_{0}. There are two possible cases.
(1) Point NN and P0P_{0} do not coincide. Since points A,K,P0A, K, P_{0}, and NN are all on circle SS, we have (AK,KP0)=(AN,NP0)\angle\left(A K, K P_{0}\right)=\angle(A N, N P_{0}). Since BCAKB C A K, then (AK,KP0)=(BC,KP0)\angle\left(A K, K P_{0}\right)=\angle\left(B C, K P_{0}\right). This implies that (MD,DP0)=(MN,NP0)\angle\left(M D, D P_{0}\right)=\angle\left(M N, N P_{0}\right), meaning points M,N,P0,DM, N, P_{0}, D are concyclic, thus P0=P0P_{0}=P_{0}.
(2) Point NN and P0P_{0} coincide. In a homothety centered at point P0P_{0}, point KK is moved to point DD, and line APA P is transformed into itself, while line AKA K is transformed into line MDM D (since AKMDA K \parallel M D). This means point AA is moved to point MM. Therefore, circle SS is transformed into the circumcircle of triangle NMDN M D. Since the center of homothety is point P0=NP_{0}=N, these circles have no other common points, i.e., P=P0P=P_{0}.

Clearly, the point MM is the projection of point P0P_{0} onto line BCB C, and this projection lies within segment BCB C (since A\angle A is acute, and point MM does not coincide with point DD, because KDC=DKB+KBD\angle K D C = \angle D K B + \angle K B D is an obtuse angle).

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