Maths Olympiad Prep

Track / Stage 7 / 174 of 300 #1574 of 1964

Problem 1574

National Olympiad second round; IMO P1/P4
Geometry Difficulty 7.3 Prove it

A circle passing through A,BA, B and the orthocenter of triangle ABCABC meets sides AC,BCAC, BC at their inner points. Prove that 60o<∠C<90o60^o < \angle C < 90^o .

(A. Blinkov)

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

1. Let the circle passing through points AA, BB, and the orthocenter HH of triangle ABCABC intersect sides ACAC and BCBC at points I1I_1 and I2I_2 respectively.
2. Since HH is the orthocenter, the angle ∠BHC\angle BHC is given by:
∠BHC=180∘−∠A \angle BHC = 180^\circ - \angle A
This follows from the property of the orthocenter in a triangle, where the angle between the altitudes is supplementary to the angle at the opposite vertex.
3. In the cyclic quadrilateral AI2HCAI_2HC, the opposite angles sum to 180∘180^\circ. Therefore:
∠AI2C+∠AHC=180∘ \angle AI_2C + \angle AHC = 180^\circ
Since ∠AHC=180∘−∠A\angle AHC = 180^\circ - \angle A, we have:
∠AI2C=∠A \angle AI_2C = \angle A
4. In triangle AI2CAI_2C, we know that the sum of the angles is 180∘180^\circ. Thus:
∠A+∠I2+∠C=180∘ \angle A + \angle I_2 + \angle C = 180^\circ
Since ∠AI2C=∠A\angle AI_2C = \angle A, we have:
2∠A+∠C=180∘  ⟹  2∠A<180∘  ⟹  ∠A<90∘ 2\angle A + \angle C = 180^\circ \implies 2\angle A < 180^\circ \implies \angle A < 90^\circ
5. For the next part, consider the convex quadrilateral CI1I2KCI_1I_2K, where KK is the intersection of BI1BI_1 and AI2AI_2. Since I1I_1 and I2I_2 lie on the circle passing through AA, BB, and HH, the quadrilateral CI1I2KCI_1I_2K is cyclic.
6. In a cyclic quadrilateral, the sum of the opposite angles is 180∘180^\circ. Therefore:
∠CI1I2+∠CKI2=180∘ \angle CI_1I_2 + \angle CKI_2 = 180^\circ
Since ∠CKI2=∠C\angle CKI_2 = \angle C, we have:
∠CI1I2+∠C=180∘ \angle CI_1I_2 + \angle C = 180^\circ
7. Since ∠CI1I2\angle CI_1I_2 is an internal angle of the triangle CI1I2KCI_1I_2K, we have:
∠CI1I2<180∘ \angle CI_1I_2 < 180^\circ
Therefore:
∠C<180∘−∠CI1I2 \angle C < 180^\circ - \angle CI_1I_2
Since ∠CI1I2\angle CI_1I_2 is an internal angle, it must be less than 180∘180^\circ. Thus:
∠C>60∘ \angle C > 60^\circ
8. Combining the results from steps 4 and 7, we have:
60∘<∠C<90∘ 60^\circ < \angle C < 90^\circ

■\blacksquare

The final answer is 60∘<∠C<90∘ \boxed{ 60^\circ < \angle C < 90^\circ }

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