Maths Olympiad Prep

Track / Stage 6 / 353 of 400 #1353 of 1964

Problem 1353

National Olympiad, first round
Geometry Difficulty 6.4 Prove it

In the cyclic quadrilateral ABCDABCD, the diagonals are not perpendicular to each other. The feet of the perpendiculars from the vertices A,B,C,DA, B, C, D to the diagonals not passing through these vertices are A′,B′,C′,D′A', B', C', D', respectively. The intersection points of the lines AA′AA' and DD′DD', DD′DD' and CC′CC', CC′CC' and BB′BB', and finally BB′BB' and AA′AA' are E,F,G,HE, F, G, H, respectively. Prove that A′B′C′D′A'B'C'D' is a cyclic quadrilateral, and the center of its circumscribed circle is the intersection point of the segments EGEG and FHFH.

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.

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Official solution

Solution. Using that

∠BB′C=∠CC′B=90∘,∠AA′D=∠DD′A=90∘, \angle B B^{\prime} C = \angle C C^{\prime} B = 90^{\circ}, \quad \angle A A^{\prime} D = \angle D D^{\prime} A = 90^{\circ},

the quadrilaterals BB′C′CB B^{\prime} C^{\prime} C and AA′D′DA A^{\prime} D^{\prime} D are cyclic, just like AB′A′BA B^{\prime} A^{\prime} B and CD′C′DC D^{\prime} C^{\prime} D.

By the inscribed angle theorem (in the cyclic quadrilateral ABCDA B C D), the chord BCB C is seen from points AA and DD at the same angle, i.e., ∠BAC=∠BDC\angle B A C = \angle B D C. Similarly, in the cyclic quadrilateral AA′D′DA A^{\prime} D^{\prime} D, ∠A′AD′=∠A′DD′\angle A^{\prime} A D^{\prime} = \angle A^{\prime} D D^{\prime}. Thus,

∠BAA′=∠BAC−∠A′AD′=∠BDC−∠A′DD′=∠D′DC. \angle B A A^{\prime} = \angle B A C - \angle A^{\prime} A D^{\prime} = \angle B D C - \angle A^{\prime} D D^{\prime} = \angle D^{\prime} D C.

In the cyclic quadrilateral ABA′B′A B A^{\prime} B^{\prime}, ∠A′B′B=∠BAA′\angle A^{\prime} B^{\prime} B = \angle B A A^{\prime}, and in the cyclic quadrilateral CDC′D′C D C^{\prime} D^{\prime}, ∠D′C′C=∠D′DC\angle D^{\prime} C^{\prime} C = \angle D^{\prime} D C, so ∠D′C′C=∠A′B′B\angle D^{\prime} C^{\prime} C = \angle A^{\prime} B^{\prime} B, from which

∠D′C′A′=90∘−∠D′C′C=90∘−∠A′B′B=∠A′B′D′, \angle D^{\prime} C^{\prime} A^{\prime} = 90^{\circ} - \angle D^{\prime} C^{\prime} C = 90^{\circ} - \angle A^{\prime} B^{\prime} B = \angle A^{\prime} B^{\prime} D^{\prime},

thus, by the converse of the inscribed angle theorem, A′B′C′D′A^{\prime} B^{\prime} C^{\prime} D^{\prime} is a cyclic quadrilateral.

It remains to show that the center of the circle circumscribed around the cyclic quadrilateral A′B′C′D′A^{\prime} B^{\prime} C^{\prime} D^{\prime} is precisely the intersection of the diagonals of the quadrilateral EFGHE F G H. Since the lines EFE F and GHG H are perpendicular to the diagonal ACA C, and EHE H and FGF G are perpendicular to the diagonal BDB D, the quadrilateral EFGHE F G H is a parallelogram, whose center is the intersection of its diagonals. The center of this parallelogram lies on the line through the midpoints of EFE F and GHG H (the midline of the parallelogram), which is perpendicular to D′B′D^{\prime} B^{\prime}, and every point on this line is equidistant from the lines EFE F and GHG H.

!

This implies that this line is the perpendicular bisector of the segment D′B′D^{\prime} B^{\prime}. Thus, we have shown that the center of the parallelogram EFGHE F G H lies on the perpendicular bisector of the segment D′B′D^{\prime} B^{\prime}, and similarly, it lies on the perpendicular bisector of the segment A′C′A^{\prime} C^{\prime}. However, these two lines have only one common point, which is the center of the circle circumscribed around the cyclic quadrilateral A′B′C′D′A^{\prime} B^{\prime} C^{\prime} D^{\prime}.

Remark. If the intersection of the diagonals is MM, then without loss of generality, we can assume that the angle ∠AMB\angle A M B is acute. In this case, the points A′,B′,C′,D′A^{\prime}, B^{\prime}, C^{\prime}, D^{\prime} lie on the open rays MB,MA,MD,MCM B, M A, M D, M C, respectively. For simplicity, we assumed that these points lie in the interiors of MB,MA,MD,MCM B, M A, M D, M C; the statement of the problem can be proven similarly in other cases.

Source: NuminaMath-1.5, licensed Apache-2.0. Statement reproduced verbatim; metadata (topic, difficulty, ordering) added by this project.