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PrintBxMO Team Selection Test, March 2020
Netherlands 2020 geometry
Problem
In an acute triangle the foot of the altitude from is called . Let and be reflections of in and , respectively. The intersection of and the line through parallel to , is called . The intersection of and the line through parallel to , is called . Prove that , and lie on a circle whose centre lies on the circumcircle of .
Solution
Let be the midpoint of , and let be the midpoint of . Then lies on and lies on . Because , the quadrilateral is cyclic. Hence, . Moreover, is a midsegment in triangle , hence . We conclude that .
Because and , we have . Hence, . On the other hand, as , we have , hence we get . We conclude that is a cyclic quadrilateral.
Let be the point such that is a diameter of the circumcircle of . Thales' theorem yields . Hence, , which yields and . Moreover, is the midpoint of and , hence is a midsegment in triangle . This means that is the midpoint of . Because , we get that is also a midsegment, hence intersects in the middle. As , the line is the perpendicular bisector of . Analogously, we get that is the perpendicular bisector of . Hence, is the intersection point of the perpendicular bisectors of two of the chords of the circle through , and . Hence, is the centre of this circle.
Because and , we have . Hence, . On the other hand, as , we have , hence we get . We conclude that is a cyclic quadrilateral.
Let be the point such that is a diameter of the circumcircle of . Thales' theorem yields . Hence, , which yields and . Moreover, is the midpoint of and , hence is a midsegment in triangle . This means that is the midpoint of . Because , we get that is also a midsegment, hence intersects in the middle. As , the line is the perpendicular bisector of . Analogously, we get that is the perpendicular bisector of . Hence, is the intersection point of the perpendicular bisectors of two of the chords of the circle through , and . Hence, is the centre of this circle.
Techniques
Cyclic quadrilateralsAngle chasingTriangle centers: centroid, incenter, circumcenter, orthocenter, Euler line, nine-point circle