Maths Olympiad Prep

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Geometry Difficulty 4.7 AIME Prove it Saudi Arabia

In triangle ABCABC, points DD and EE lie on side BCBC and ACAC respectively such that AD⊥BCAD \perp BC and DE⊥ACDE \perp AC. The circumcircle of triangle ABDABD meets segment BEBE at point FF (other than BB). Ray AFAF meets segment DEDE at point PP. Prove that
DPPE=CDDB. \frac{DP}{PE} = \frac{CD}{DB}.

Solution

Since AEDAED and ADCADC are both right triangles, ADP^=90∘−DAC^=ECB^\widehat{ADP} = 90^\circ - \widehat{DAC} = \widehat{ECB}. Also, since AFDBAFDB is a cyclic quad, DAP^=EBC^\widehat{DAP} = \widehat{EBC}.

Figure 1

Therefore, ADPADP and BCEBCE are similar and BCEC=ADDP\frac{BC}{EC} = \frac{AD}{DP}. Also, ADCADC and DECDEC are similar since both are right angled triangles that share an acute angle. Therefore,
ADDC=DEEC. \frac{AD}{DC} = \frac{DE}{EC}.
These two equations imply that
BC⋅DP=AD⋅EC=DC⋅DE, BC \cdot DP = AD \cdot EC = DC \cdot DE,
so we have
BCDC=DEDP. \frac{BC}{DC} = \frac{DE}{DP}.
Since BC=BD+DCBC = BD + DC and DE=DP+PEDE = DP + PE, subtracting one from both sides gives us BDDC=PEDP\frac{BD}{DC} = \frac{PE}{DP}, as desired.

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