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XV OBM

Brazil geometry

Problem

Let be a polygon inscribed in a circle and a point outside the plane of the circle. Let be the plane perpendicular to and passing through , . Prove that the intersection of all planes is a point.
Solution
Let be the sphere that contains the circumcircle of the polygon and and let be the point diametrically opposite to in . Then , that is, is perpendicular to and since contains all lines perpendicular to passing through , belongs to .

It remains to prove that the intersection of the planes is not a line. Let be the intersection of and . It is a line, since the intersection is non-empty. This line is perpendicular to both and , so it is perpendicular to plane . Analogously, the intersection of and is perpendicular to the plane . Since the planes and are secant in , and the intersection of all planes is the intersection of and , which is a single point.

Techniques

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