192. An easy and nice problem of Valentin Vornicu.

by Virgil Nicula, Dec 18, 2010, 8:16 AM

Proposed problem. Let $ABC$ be an $A$-isosceles triangle. Denote the midpoint $ M$ of the side $[BC]$ and the point $ O\in AM$ such that $ OB\perp AB$. Consider

an arbitrary point $Q\in  BC$ different from $ B$ and $ C$ and the points $ E\in AB\ ,\ F\in AC$ such that $Q\in EF$ . Prove that $ OQ\perp  EF\ \iff\ QE=QF$.


Proof 1. Denote the reflection $E'$ of the point $E$ w.r.t. the point $B$ , i.e. $BO$ is the bisector of the segment $[EE']$ . From the Menelaus' theorem applied to the transversal

$\overline {BQC}$ for $\triangle AEF$ results the relation $\frac{BE}{BA}\cdot \frac{CA}{CF}\cdot \frac{QF}{QE}=1$ , i.e. $\frac{BE'}{CF}=\frac{QE}{QF}$ . Thus, $QE=QF\Longleftrightarrow BE'=CF\Longleftrightarrow E'F\parallel BC\Longleftrightarrow$

$AO$ is the bisector of the segment $[E'F]\Longleftrightarrow$ the point $O$ is the circumcenter of the triangle $E'EF\Longleftrightarrow OQ\perp EF$ .

Proof 2. Supppose w.l.,o.g. $Q\in (MC)$ . Observe that $OB=OC$ and $OQ\perp EF\iff$ $BEQO$ and $CFOQ$ are cyclically $\iff$

$\widehat {OEF}\equiv$ $\widehat {OEQ}\equiv$ $\widehat {OBQ}\equiv$ $\widehat {OBC}\equiv$ $\widehat {OCB}\equiv$ $\widehat {OCQ}\equiv$ $\widehat {OFQ}\equiv$ $\widehat {OFE}\iff$ $\widehat {OEF}\equiv\widehat {OFE}$ $\iff$ $QE=QF$ .


Quote:
An easy extension. Let $w$ be the circumcircle of $\triangle ABC$ . Let $[AA']$ be the diameter of $w$ . Consider the points

$ D\in BC\ ,\ E\in CA\ ,\ F\in AB$ so that $D\in EF$ . Prove that $A'D\perp EF\ \iff\ \frac {A'E}{A'F} = \frac {A'C}{A'B}$ .

Proof. $==\blacktriangleright$ Suppose that $A'D\perp EF$ . Then $ A'B\perp AB$ $\implies$ $ BDA'F$ is cyclically $\implies$ $\widehat{EFA'}\equiv\widehat{DFA'}\equiv\widehat{DBA'}\equiv\widehat{CBA'}\equiv$

$\widehat{CAA'}\equiv\widehat{EAA'}$ $\implies$ $(1)\ \boxed{\widehat{CBA'}\equiv\widehat{EFA'}}\equiv\widehat{EAA'}$ $\implies$ $AEA'F$ is cyclically $\implies$ $\widehat{BCA'}\equiv\widehat{BAA'}\equiv$ $\widehat{FAA'}\equiv\widehat{FEA'}$ $\implies$

$(2)\ \boxed{\widehat{BCA'}\equiv\widehat{FEA'}}$ . From the relations $(1)$ and $(2)$ obtain that $\triangle EA'F\sim\triangle CA'B\ \implies\ \frac{A'F}{A'E}=\frac{A'B}{A'C}$ .

$\blacktriangleleft ==$ Suppose that $ \frac{A'F}{A'E}=\frac{A'B}{A'C}$ . Then $\frac{A'F}{A'B}=\frac{A'E}{A'C}$ and $ \angle A'CE=\angle A'BF=\frac{\pi}{2}$ $\implies$ $ \angle A'FA=\angle A'EC$ $\implies$ $ AEA'F$ is

cyclically. Therefore $ \angle A'BC=\angle EAA'=\angle EFA'$ $\implies$ $ BDA'F$ is cyclically $\implies$ $ \angle FDA'=\frac{\pi}{2}$ $\implies$ $A'D\perp EF$ .

See and
here CLVI - message of My (math)blog.

.
This post has been edited 26 times. Last edited by Virgil Nicula, Nov 22, 2015, 5:34 PM

Comment

0 Comments

Own problems or extensions/generalizations of some problems which was posted here.

avatar

Virgil Nicula
Archives
+ October 2017
+ September 2017
+ December 2016
+ October 2016
+ February 2016
+ September 2013
+ October 2010
+ September 2010
Shouts
Submit
  • orzzzzzzzzz

    by mathMagicOPS, Jan 9, 2025, 3:40 AM

  • this css is sus

    by ihatemath123, Aug 14, 2024, 1:53 AM

  • 391345 views moment

    by ryanbear, May 9, 2023, 6:10 AM

  • We need virgil nicula to return to aops, this blog is top 10 all time.

    by OlympusHero, Sep 14, 2022, 4:44 AM

  • :omighty: blog

    by tigerzhang, Aug 1, 2021, 12:02 AM

  • Amazing blog.

    by OlympusHero, May 13, 2021, 10:23 PM

  • the visits tho

    by GoogleNebula, Apr 14, 2021, 5:25 AM

  • Bro this blog is ripped

    by samrocksnature, Apr 14, 2021, 5:16 AM

  • Holy- Darn this is good. shame it's inactive now

    by the_mathmagician, Jan 17, 2021, 7:43 PM

  • godly blog. opopop

    by OlympusHero, Dec 30, 2020, 6:08 PM

  • long blog

    by MrMustache, Nov 11, 2020, 4:52 PM

  • 372554 views!

    by mrmath0720, Sep 28, 2020, 1:11 AM

  • wow... i am lost.

    369302 views!

    -piphi

    by piphi, Jun 10, 2020, 11:44 PM

  • That was a lot! But, really good solutions and format! Nice blog!!!! :)

    by CSPAL, May 27, 2020, 4:17 PM

  • impressive :D
    awesome. 358,000 visits?????

    by OlympusHero, May 14, 2020, 8:43 PM

72 shouts
Tags
About Owner
  • Posts: 7054
  • Joined: Jun 22, 2005
Blog Stats
  • Blog created: Apr 20, 2010
  • Total entries: 456
  • Total visits: 404396
  • Total comments: 37
Search Blog
a