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k a March Highlights and 2025 AoPS Online Class Information
jlacosta   0
Mar 2, 2025
March is the month for State MATHCOUNTS competitions! Kudos to everyone who participated in their local chapter competitions and best of luck to all going to State! Join us on March 11th for a Math Jam devoted to our favorite Chapter competition problems! Are you interested in training for MATHCOUNTS? Be sure to check out our AMC 8/MATHCOUNTS Basics and Advanced courses.

Are you ready to level up with Olympiad training? Registration is open with early bird pricing available for our WOOT programs: MathWOOT (Levels 1 and 2), CodeWOOT, PhysicsWOOT, and ChemWOOT. What is WOOT? WOOT stands for Worldwide Online Olympiad Training and is a 7-month high school math Olympiad preparation and testing program that brings together many of the best students from around the world to learn Olympiad problem solving skills. Classes begin in September!

Do you have plans this summer? There are so many options to fit your schedule and goals whether attending a summer camp or taking online classes, it can be a great break from the routine of the school year. Check out our summer courses at AoPS Online, or if you want a math or language arts class that doesn’t have homework, but is an enriching summer experience, our AoPS Virtual Campus summer camps may be just the ticket! We are expanding our locations for our AoPS Academies across the country with 15 locations so far and new campuses opening in Saratoga CA, Johns Creek GA, and the Upper West Side NY. Check out this page for summer camp information.

Be sure to mark your calendars for the following events:
[list][*]March 5th (Wednesday), 4:30pm PT/7:30pm ET, HCSSiM Math Jam 2025. Amber Verser, Assistant Director of the Hampshire College Summer Studies in Mathematics, will host an information session about HCSSiM, a summer program for high school students.
[*]March 6th (Thursday), 4:00pm PT/7:00pm ET, Free Webinar on Math Competitions from elementary through high school. Join us for an enlightening session that demystifies the world of math competitions and helps you make informed decisions about your contest journey.
[*]March 11th (Tuesday), 4:30pm PT/7:30pm ET, 2025 MATHCOUNTS Chapter Discussion MATH JAM. AoPS instructors will discuss some of their favorite problems from the MATHCOUNTS Chapter Competition. All are welcome!
[*]March 13th (Thursday), 4:00pm PT/7:00pm ET, Free Webinar about Summer Camps at the Virtual Campus. Transform your summer into an unforgettable learning adventure! From elementary through high school, we offer dynamic summer camps featuring topics in mathematics, language arts, and competition preparation - all designed to fit your schedule and ignite your passion for learning.[/list]
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0 replies
jlacosta
Mar 2, 2025
0 replies
k i A Letter to MSM
Arr0w   23
N Sep 19, 2022 by scannose
Greetings.

I have seen many posts talking about commonly asked questions, such as finding the value of $0^0$, $\frac{1}{0}$,$\frac{0}{0}$, $\frac{\infty}{\infty}$, why $0.999...=1$ or even expressions of those terms combined as if that would make them defined. I have made this post to answer these questions once and for all, and I politely ask everyone to link this post to threads that are talking about this issue.
[list]
[*]Firstly, the case of $0^0$. It is usually regarded that $0^0=1$, not because this works numerically but because it is convenient to define it this way. You will see the convenience of defining other undefined things later on in this post.

[*]What about $\frac{\infty}{\infty}$? The issue here is that $\infty$ isn't even rigorously defined in this expression. What exactly do we mean by $\infty$? Unless the example in question is put in context in a formal manner, then we say that $\frac{\infty}{\infty}$ is meaningless.

[*]What about $\frac{1}{0}$? Suppose that $x=\frac{1}{0}$. Then we would have $x\cdot 0=0=1$, absurd. A more rigorous treatment of the idea is that $\lim_{x\to0}\frac{1}{x}$ does not exist in the first place, although you will see why in a calculus course. So the point is that $\frac{1}{0}$ is undefined.

[*]What about if $0.99999...=1$? An article from brilliant has a good explanation. Alternatively, you can just use a geometric series. Notice that
\begin{align*}
\sum_{n=1}^{\infty} \frac{9}{10^n}&=9\sum_{n=1}^{\infty}\frac{1}{10^n}=9\sum_{n=1}^{\infty}\biggr(\frac{1}{10}\biggr)^n=9\biggr(\frac{\frac{1}{10}}{1-\frac{1}{10}}\biggr)=9\biggr(\frac{\frac{1}{10}}{\frac{9}{10}}\biggr)=9\biggr(\frac{1}{9}\biggr)=\boxed{1}
\end{align*}
[*]What about $\frac{0}{0}$? Usually this is considered to be an indeterminate form, but I would also wager that this is also undefined.
[/list]
Hopefully all of these issues and their corollaries are finally put to rest. Cheers.

2nd EDIT (6/14/22): Since I originally posted this, it has since blown up so I will try to add additional information per the request of users in the thread below.

INDETERMINATE VS UNDEFINED

What makes something indeterminate? As you can see above, there are many things that are indeterminate. While definitions might vary slightly, it is the consensus that the following definition holds: A mathematical expression is be said to be indeterminate if it is not definitively or precisely determined. So how does this make, say, something like $0/0$ indeterminate? In analysis (the theory behind calculus and beyond), limits involving an algebraic combination of functions in an independent variable may often be evaluated by replacing these functions by their limits. However, if the expression obtained after this substitution does not provide sufficient information to determine the original limit, then the expression is called an indeterminate form. For example, we could say that $0/0$ is an indeterminate form.

But we need to more specific, this is still ambiguous. An indeterminate form is a mathematical expression involving at most two of $0$, $1$ or $\infty$, obtained by applying the algebraic limit theorem (a theorem in analysis, look this up for details) in the process of attempting to determine a limit, which fails to restrict that limit to one specific value or infinity, and thus does not determine the limit being calculated. This is why it is called indeterminate. Some examples of indeterminate forms are
\[0/0, \infty/\infty, \infty-\infty, \infty \times 0\]etc etc. So what makes something undefined? In the broader scope, something being undefined refers to an expression which is not assigned an interpretation or a value. A function is said to be undefined for points outside its domain. For example, the function $f:\mathbb{R}^{+}\cup\{0\}\rightarrow\mathbb{R}$ given by the mapping $x\mapsto \sqrt{x}$ is undefined for $x<0$. On the other hand, $1/0$ is undefined because dividing by $0$ is not defined in arithmetic by definition. In other words, something is undefined when it is not defined in some mathematical context.

WHEN THE WATERS GET MUDDIED

So with this notion of indeterminate and undefined, things get convoluted. First of all, just because something is indeterminate does not mean it is not undefined. For example $0/0$ is considered both indeterminate and undefined (but in the context of a limit then it is considered in indeterminate form). Additionally, this notion of something being undefined also means that we can define it in some way. To rephrase, this means that technically, we can make something that is undefined to something that is defined as long as we define it. I'll show you what I mean.

One example of making something undefined into something defined is the extended real number line, which we define as
\[\overline{\mathbb{R}}=\mathbb{R}\cup \{-\infty,+\infty\}.\]So instead of treating infinity as an idea, we define infinity (positively and negatively, mind you) as actual numbers in the reals. The advantage of doing this is for two reasons. The first is because we can turn this thing into a totally ordered set. Specifically, we can let $-\infty\le a\le \infty$ for each $a\in\overline{\mathbb{R}}$ which means that via this order topology each subset has an infimum and supremum and $\overline{\mathbb{R}}$ is therefore compact. While this is nice from an analytic standpoint, extending the reals in this way can allow for interesting arithmetic! In $\overline{\mathbb{R}}$ it is perfectly OK to say that,
\begin{align*}
a + \infty = \infty + a & = \infty, & a & \neq -\infty \\
a - \infty = -\infty + a & = -\infty, & a & \neq \infty \\
a \cdot (\pm\infty) = \pm\infty \cdot a & = \pm\infty, & a & \in (0, +\infty] \\
a \cdot (\pm\infty) = \pm\infty \cdot a & = \mp\infty, & a & \in [-\infty, 0) \\
\frac{a}{\pm\infty} & = 0, & a & \in \mathbb{R} \\
\frac{\pm\infty}{a} & = \pm\infty, & a & \in (0, +\infty) \\
\frac{\pm\infty}{a} & = \mp\infty, & a & \in (-\infty, 0).
\end{align*}So addition, multiplication, and division are all defined nicely. However, notice that we have some indeterminate forms here which are also undefined,
\[\infty-\infty,\frac{\pm\infty}{\pm\infty},\frac{\pm\infty}{0},0\cdot \pm\infty.\]So while we define certain things, we also left others undefined/indeterminate in the process! However, in the context of measure theory it is common to define $\infty \times 0=0$ as greenturtle3141 noted below. I encourage to reread what he wrote, it's great stuff! As you may notice, though, dividing by $0$ is undefined still! Is there a place where it isn't? Kind of. To do this, we can extend the complex numbers! More formally, we can define this extension as
\[\mathbb{C}^*=\mathbb{C}\cup\{\tilde{\infty}\}\]which we call the Riemann Sphere (it actually forms a sphere, pretty cool right?). As a note, $\tilde{\infty}$ means complex infinity, since we are in the complex plane now. Here's the catch: division by $0$ is allowed here! In fact, we have
\[\frac{z}{0}=\tilde{\infty},\frac{z}{\tilde{\infty}}=0.\]where $\tilde{\infty}/\tilde{\infty}$ and $0/0$ are left undefined. We also have
\begin{align*}
z+\tilde{\infty}=\tilde{\infty}, \forall z\ne -\infty\\
z\times \tilde{\infty}=\tilde{\infty}, \forall z\ne 0
\end{align*}Furthermore, we actually have some nice properties with multiplication that we didn't have before. In $\mathbb{C}^*$ it holds that
\[\tilde{\infty}\times \tilde{\infty}=\tilde{\infty}\]but $\tilde{\infty}-\tilde{\infty}$ and $0\times \tilde{\infty}$ are left as undefined (unless there is an explicit need to change that somehow). One could define the projectively extended reals as we did with $\mathbb{C}^*$, by defining them as
\[{\widehat {\mathbb {R} }}=\mathbb {R} \cup \{\infty \}.\]They behave in a similar way to the Riemann Sphere, with division by $0$ also being allowed with the same indeterminate forms (in addition to some other ones).
23 replies
Arr0w
Feb 11, 2022
scannose
Sep 19, 2022
k i Marathon Threads
LauraZed   0
Jul 2, 2019
Due to excessive spam and inappropriate posts, we have locked the Prealgebra and Beginning Algebra threads.

We will either unlock these threads once we've cleaned them up or start new ones, but for now, do not start new marathon threads for these subjects. Any new marathon threads started while this announcement is up will be immediately deleted.
0 replies
LauraZed
Jul 2, 2019
0 replies
k i Basic Forum Rules and Info (Read before posting)
jellymoop   368
N May 16, 2018 by harry1234
f (Reminder: Do not post Alcumus or class homework questions on this forum. Instructions below.) f
Welcome to the Middle School Math Forum! Please take a moment to familiarize yourself with the rules.

Overview:
[list]
[*] When you're posting a new topic with a math problem, give the topic a detailed title that includes the subject of the problem (not just "easy problem" or "nice problem")
[*] Stay on topic and be courteous.
[*] Hide solutions!
[*] If you see an inappropriate post in this forum, simply report the post and a moderator will deal with it. Don't make your own post telling people they're not following the rules - that usually just makes the issue worse.
[*] When you post a question that you need help solving, post what you've attempted so far and not just the question. We are here to learn from each other, not to do your homework. :P
[*] Avoid making posts just to thank someone - you can use the upvote function instead
[*] Don't make a new reply just to repeat yourself or comment on the quality of others' posts; instead, post when you have a new insight or question. You can also edit your post if it's the most recent and you want to add more information.
[*] Avoid bumping old posts.
[*] Use GameBot to post alcumus questions.
[*] If you need general MATHCOUNTS/math competition advice, check out the threads below.
[*] Don't post other users' real names.
[*] Advertisements are not allowed. You can advertise your forum on your profile with a link, on your blog, and on user-created forums that permit forum advertisements.
[/list]

Here are links to more detailed versions of the rules. These are from the older forums, so you can overlook "Classroom math/Competition math only" instructions.
Posting Guidelines
Update on Basic Forum Rules
What belongs on this forum?
How do I write a thorough solution?
How do I get a problem on the contest page?
How do I study for mathcounts?
Mathcounts FAQ and resources
Mathcounts and how to learn

As always, if you have any questions, you can PM me or any of the other Middle School Moderators. Once again, if you see spam, it would help a lot if you filed a report instead of responding :)

Marathons!
Relays might be a better way to describe it, but these threads definitely go the distance! One person starts off by posting a problem, and the next person comes up with a solution and a new problem for another user to solve. Here's some of the frequently active marathons running in this forum:
[list][*]Algebra
[*]Prealgebra
[*]Proofs
[*]Factoring
[*]Geometry
[*]Counting & Probability
[*]Number Theory[/list]
Some of these haven't received attention in a while, but these are the main ones for their respective subjects. Rather than starting a new marathon, please give the existing ones a shot first.

You can also view marathons via the Marathon tag.

Think this list is incomplete or needs changes? Let the mods know and we'll take a look.
368 replies
jellymoop
May 8, 2015
harry1234
May 16, 2018
IMO 2023 P2
799786   89
N 17 minutes ago by kaede_Arcadia
Source: IMO 2023 P2
Let $ABC$ be an acute-angled triangle with $AB < AC$. Let $\Omega$ be the circumcircle of $ABC$. Let $S$ be the midpoint of the arc $CB$ of $\Omega$ containing $A$. The perpendicular from $A$ to $BC$ meets $BS$ at $D$ and meets $\Omega$ again at $E \neq A$. The line through $D$ parallel to $BC$ meets line $BE$ at $L$. Denote the circumcircle of triangle $BDL$ by $\omega$. Let $\omega$ meet $\Omega$ again at $P \neq B$. Prove that the line tangent to $\omega$ at $P$ meets line $BS$ on the internal angle bisector of $\angle BAC$.
89 replies
799786
Jul 8, 2023
kaede_Arcadia
17 minutes ago
combinatorıc
o.k.oo   0
39 minutes ago
A total of 3300 handshakes were made at a party attended by 600 people. It was observed
that the total number of handshakes among any 300 people at the party is at least N. Find
the largest possible value for N.
0 replies
o.k.oo
39 minutes ago
0 replies
Problem 2, Olympic Revenge 2013
hvaz   66
N an hour ago by MonkeyLuffy
Source: XII Olympic Revenge - 2013
Let $ABC$ to be an acute triangle. Also, let $K$ and $L$ to be the two intersections of the perpendicular from $B$ with respect to side $AC$ with the circle of diameter $AC$, with $K$ closer to $B$ than $L$. Analogously, $X$ and $Y$ are the two intersections of the perpendicular from $C$ with respect to side $AB$ with the circle of diamter $AB$, with $X$ closer to $C$ than $Y$. Prove that the intersection of $XL$ and $KY$ lies on $BC$.
66 replies
hvaz
Jan 26, 2013
MonkeyLuffy
an hour ago
Functional equation wrapped in f's
62861   35
N an hour ago by ihatemath123
Source: RMM 2019 Problem 5
Determine all functions $f: \mathbb{R} \to \mathbb{R}$ satisfying
\[f(x + yf(x)) + f(xy) = f(x) + f(2019y),\]for all real numbers $x$ and $y$.
35 replies
62861
Feb 24, 2019
ihatemath123
an hour ago
Amc10 prep question
Shadow6885   13
N 2 hours ago by RandomMathGuy500
My question is how much of the geo and IA textbooks is relevant to AMC 10?
13 replies
Shadow6885
Yesterday at 6:20 AM
RandomMathGuy500
2 hours ago
k Is your state listed?
Chatelet1   408
N 3 hours ago by Eddie_tiger
Multiple states have announced their top students who will advance to the 2025 MATHCOUNTS National Competition in May:

• From Alabama: Henry Gladden of Mobile, Austin Lu of Birmingham, Jessie Shi of Vestavia, and Minlu Wang-He of Auburn.

• From Arkansas: Ryan Fan of Fayetteville, Vivek Kalyankar of Fayetteville, Evan Ning of Fayetteville and Charles Yao of Conway.

• From Connecticut: Hayden Hughes of Newtown, Ethan Shi of Riverside, Alex Svoronos of Greenwich and Elaine Zhou of Hamden.

• From the Department of Defense: Narmin Guliyeva of Ankara, Turkey; Taeyul Kim of Manana, Bahrain; Nathan Liang of Wiesbaden, Germany; and Lucas Sze of Okinawa, Japan.

• From Hawaii: Taehwan Jeon, Hilohak Kwak, Isaac Qian and Thien Tran, all from Honolulu.

• From Kansas: Haidan Anderson & Jayden Xue of Overland Park, Christopher Spencer of Manhattan, and Ruby Jiang of Lawrence.

• From Maine: Ana Kanitkar & Connor Kirkham of Falmouth, Anna McClary of Hermon and Poppy Sandin of Bar Harbor.

• From Massachusetts: Eric Huang of Acton, Shlok Mukund & Brandon Ni of Lexington, and Soham Samanta of Medford.

• From Missouri: Lucas Lai of Columbia, Kevin Shi of St. Louis, Charles Yong & Jay Zhou of Chesterfield.

• From Montana: Titus Gilder of Missoula, Otis Heggem of Billings, Kaleb Houtz of Great Falls and Evan Newcomer of Missoula.

• From Nevada: Solomon Dumont of Las Vegas, Aaron Lei of Reno, Leeoz Nebat of Henderson and Maxwell Tsai of Las Vegas.

• From New Mexico: Mark Goldman, Daniel He, Iris Huang and Patrick McArdle, all from Albuquerque.

• From New York: Derrick Chen of Great Neck, Victor Yang of Great Neck, Hanru Zhang of Jericho and Ryan Zhang of Jericho.

• From Rhode Island: Kahlan Anderson of the Wheeler School, Julian Bernhoft & Colin Hegstrom of Providence, and Theodora Watson of Barrington.

• From South Carolina: Yukai Hu of Elgin, Justin Peng of Clemson, Geonhoo Shim of Columbia, and Aaron Wang of Mount Pleasant.

• From South Dakota: Seth Chaplin & Maxwell Wang of Sioux Falls, Laukia Gundewar of Aberdeen, and Cohwen Heimann of Aberdeen.

• From Texas: Shaheem Samsudeen & Ayush Narayan of Plano, Nathan Liu of Richardson, and James Stewart of Southlake.

• From Vermont: Mohid Ali of South Burlington, Vivek Chadive of South Burlington, Joshua Kratze of St. Johnsbury and Albert Zhang of South Burlington.

• From Wisconsin: August Reeder & Lucy Chen of Fitchburg, Junhao Feng of Milwaukee, and Jiyan Singh of River Hills.

===
Updated on 3/15/2025:

• From Colorado: Noah Liu, Christopher Zhu, Neo Luo, and Andrew Zhao.

• From Florida: Arnav Bhatia, Gnaneswar Peddesugari, Edwin Gao, and Rananjay Parmar.

• From Indiana: Roland Li, Hrishabh Bhowmik, Sophia Chen, and Arjun Raman.

• From Kentucky: Sri Shubhaan Vulava, Joyce Liu, Victor Gong, and Brandon Tedja.

• From Maryland: Eric Xie, Angie Zhu, Roger Huang, and Leo Su.

• From Michigan: Arnav Vunnam, Eric Jin, Akshaj Malraj, and Chaithanya Budida.

• From Minnesota: Ahmed Ilyasov, Will Masanz, Anshdeep Singh, and Branden Qiao.

• From New Jersey: Ethan Imanuel, Advait Joshi, Jay Wang, and Easton Wei.

• From North Carolina: Shivank Chintalpati, Steven Wang, Lucas Li, and Leo Hong.

• From Ohio: Henry Lu, Andy Mo, Archishmen Dey, and Caleb Tan.

• From Oregon: Sophia Han, Kevin Cheng, Garud Shah, and Ryan Zhang.
408 replies
1 viewing
Chatelet1
Mar 8, 2025
Eddie_tiger
3 hours ago
probability pentagon contains center
JohnStuckey   3
N 4 hours ago by sadas123
Here's a cute problem:

Consider a regular pentagon. Choose 3 points along the perimeter of the pentagon, and form a triangle with those 3 points. What is the probability that this triangle contains the center of the pentagon.
3 replies
JohnStuckey
Yesterday at 6:27 PM
sadas123
4 hours ago
ohio mathcounts state
Owinner   38
N 4 hours ago by Andyluo
what is the cutoff for cdr for ohio? Is ohio a competitve state?
38 replies
Owinner
Mar 11, 2025
Andyluo
4 hours ago
What was your Mathcounts Chant?
ilovebender   59
N 4 hours ago by wikjay
Hi, I wanted to ask everyone, before the written competition, each state had to do their chant. What chant did you and your team make xd!

Im in WV and I think we did the least cringe chant, and it goes like this:

(After one person says something, the other person following waits ~2 seconds, and then says their line)
P1: Hi
P2: Hi
P3: Hi
P4: Bye

Lol if you were at the national competition you prob remember.
59 replies
ilovebender
May 12, 2022
wikjay
4 hours ago
Problem of the week
evt917   26
N 4 hours ago by PikaPika999
Whenever possible, I will be posting problems twice a week! They will be roughly of AMC 8 difficulty. Have fun solving! Also, these problems are all written by myself!

First problem:

$20^{16}$ has how many digits?
26 replies
evt917
Mar 5, 2025
PikaPika999
4 hours ago
Imposible
maxamc   1
N 6 hours ago by maromex
if 1+1 is 2 then what is the square root of 4 with 100 significant figures?
1 reply
maxamc
6 hours ago
maromex
6 hours ago
9 What should I do..?
Leeoz   6
N Yesterday at 2:13 PM by sadas123
So, there is a very important decision.. and I have decided to asked all of the people on AoPS :P

I am going to MathCounts nats, but there is the MathCon a day before the competition. It there anything I will miss by just going to MathCounts right on the day of the contest, or is it worth it to go to MathCon, even if I will have to leave before the awards.

Just want your ideas and opinions for this :)
also pls say if there is something that I will miss in MathCounts before the actual contest
6 replies
Leeoz
Yesterday at 6:17 AM
sadas123
Yesterday at 2:13 PM
MATHCOUNTS State Preparation
mithu542   27
N Yesterday at 1:16 PM by krish6_9
Hello!

I'm going to prepare for Mathcounts state soon. I want some advice on what to do. I am in 7th grade, and I want to make it to nationals. I know I should obviously take practice tests, but should I do something else other than that, or just grind all (or most) practice tests from previous years? Also, how much should I focus on Countdown round relative to the other tests?

(For reference, I got 43 on school, and 41 on chapter. Last year, I got 16/116 rank in state. Since then, I have done the following courses from aops:
Intro: algebra b, number theory, c&p, geometry
Intermediate: algebra, number theory, c&p)
27 replies
mithu542
Feb 14, 2025
krish6_9
Yesterday at 1:16 PM
9 Pi or Tau
jkim0656   100
N Yesterday at 5:19 AM by jkim0656
Hey Aops!
Pi = Circumfrence/Diameter
Tau = Circumfrence/Radius
I have noticed a lot of sites, including Khan Academy, in support of tau over pi...
so what do you think?
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/let-s-use-tau-it-s-easier-than-pi/
However i am still in support of the good ol pi :)
(btw this is my first aops poll) :-D

EDIT: 50 votes!!! :play_ball:
EDIT: 100 votes!!! :jump:
EDIT: 150 votes! :trampoline:
EDIT: 200 votes! ;)
Edit: 250 votes !!!! yaya :gathering:

If u support pi pls upvote :)
100 replies
jkim0656
Mar 14, 2025
jkim0656
Yesterday at 5:19 AM
Foot from vertex to Euler line
cjquines0   30
N Jun 24, 2024 by dolphinday
Source: 2016 IMO Shortlist G5
Let $D$ be the foot of perpendicular from $A$ to the Euler line (the line passing through the circumcentre and the orthocentre) of an acute scalene triangle $ABC$. A circle $\omega$ with centre $S$ passes through $A$ and $D$, and it intersects sides $AB$ and $AC$ at $X$ and $Y$ respectively. Let $P$ be the foot of altitude from $A$ to $BC$, and let $M$ be the midpoint of $BC$. Prove that the circumcentre of triangle $XSY$ is equidistant from $P$ and $M$.
30 replies
cjquines0
Jul 19, 2017
dolphinday
Jun 24, 2024
Foot from vertex to Euler line
G H J
G H BBookmark kLocked kLocked NReply
Source: 2016 IMO Shortlist G5
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cjquines0
510 posts
#1 • 3 Y
Y by Mathuzb, Adventure10, Mango247
Let $D$ be the foot of perpendicular from $A$ to the Euler line (the line passing through the circumcentre and the orthocentre) of an acute scalene triangle $ABC$. A circle $\omega$ with centre $S$ passes through $A$ and $D$, and it intersects sides $AB$ and $AC$ at $X$ and $Y$ respectively. Let $P$ be the foot of altitude from $A$ to $BC$, and let $M$ be the midpoint of $BC$. Prove that the circumcentre of triangle $XSY$ is equidistant from $P$ and $M$.
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v_Enhance
6858 posts
#2 • 7 Y
Y by samuel, expiLnCalc, rkm0959, v4913, hakN, Adventure10, Mango247
Let $Z$ be the antipode of $A$ on $\omega$ on the Euler line (hence delete point $D$). We now apply complex numbers; with $k \in {\mathbb R}$ we have the relations \begin{align*} 	z &= k(a+b+c) \\ 	s &= \frac{1}{2}(a+z) \\ 	x &= \frac{1}{2}(a+b+z-ab\overline z) \\ 	y &= \frac{1}{2} (a+c+z-ac \overline z). \end{align*}We now determine the coordinates of the circumcenter $W$ of $\triangle XSY$. We know that in general if $u$ and $v$ lie on a circle centered at $0$, then the circumcenter is given by $\frac{uv}{u+v}$ (the midpoint of $0$ and $\frac{2uv}{u+v}$). So if we shift accordingly we get \[ w = s + \frac{(x-s)(y-s)}{x+y-2s}. \]Then \begin{align*} 	w - \frac{a+b+c}{2} 	&= \frac{z-b-c}{2} + \frac{(b-ab \overline z)(c-ac \overline z)} 	{b+c-ab \overline z - ac \overline z} \\ 	&= \frac{z-b-c}{2} + \frac{bc(1-a\overline z)}{2(b+c)} \\ 	&= \frac{(b+c)(z-b-c)+bc(1-a\overline z)}{2(b+c)} \\ 	&= \frac{(b+c)(k(a+b+c)-b-c)+bc-k(ab+bc+ca)}{2(b+c)} \\ 	&= \frac{k\left( b^2+c^2+bc \right) - (b^2+bc+c^2)}{2(b+c)} \\ 	&= (k-1) \cdot \frac{b^2+bc+c^2}{b+c} \end{align*}Thus \[ \frac{w - \frac{a+b+c}{2}}{b-c} 	= (k-1) \cdot \frac{b^2+bc+c^2}{b^2-c^2} \]is pure imaginary. So the line through $W$ and the nine-point center is perpendicular to $BC$ as desired.

Remark: The only synthetic part is replacing the point $D$ with the antipode $Z$. After this the entire calculation is routine. There is a nice trick about a circumcenter here, but it is not strictly necessary; with enough pain the circumcenter formula will work equally well.
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anantmudgal09
1979 posts
#3 • 16 Y
Y by Yamcha, Ankoganit, W.R.O.N.G, rkm0959, Wizard_32, e_plus_pi, BOBTHEGR8, Siddharth03, gabrupro, myh2910, CyclicISLscelesTrapezoid, Mop2018, Adventure10, Mango247, bhan2025, Math_legendno12
Note that the result is immediate when $S$ is the midpoint of $AH$ and when $S$ is the midpoint of $AO$. Move $S$ uniformly over the $A$-midline of $\triangle AOH$. By spiral similarity at $D$ we see that $X, Y$ move uniformly on lines $AB$ and $AC$. As $\triangle XLY$ has a fixed shape ($L$ is the circumcenter of $XSY$), we see that $L$ moves uniformly over a fixed line. Hence, this line is the perpendicular bisector of $PM$, as desired. $\blacksquare$
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WizardMath
2487 posts
#4 • 3 Y
Y by gabrupro, Adventure10, Mango247
My solution (basically the idea is the same as above with more detail, but posting it anyways) :

Note that $S$ is on the midline of $\triangle AHO$. If $T$ is the circumcenter of $XYS$, we know that $\angle XTY = 360^\circ -4A $ or $4A$. Also by a simple angle chase, we know that the configuration $XYTDS$ has a fixed shape. So as $S$ varies on a line, $T$ also varies on a line. For the point $S$ being the midpoints of $AH, AO$, we know that that line is perpendicular to the line $BC$ and passes through the nine point center. So by using the "functional relation" we just derived, the locus of $T$ is the perpendicular bisector of $PM$, as required.

EDIT: The complex bash in post #2 can be a bit reduced if we directly notice the fact that $XYT$ has a fixed shape. Then by similarity using determinants, we have that if the displacement vector $TN$ is $x$ ($N$ is the nine point center of $ABC$), then $\frac{x}{\overline{x}}=bc$, so it is perpendicular to $BC$.
This post has been edited 1 time. Last edited by WizardMath, Jul 20, 2017, 5:03 PM
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uraharakisuke_hsgs
365 posts
#5 • 2 Y
Y by AlastorMoody, Adventure10
Let $\omega$ passes through $A,D$ cuts the Euler line at $X$ , then $AX$ is the diameter
$P,N$ be the projections of $B,C$ on $CA,AB$ ; $U,V$ are the midpoints of $CA,AB$
We have $(APN) , (AUV) , (AXY)$ are concurrent $D$ . Let $O_3,O_1,S$ be the centers of these circles, then $\overline{O_1,S,O_3}$ because it's parrallel with $OH$
Let $I_1,I_2,I_3$ be the centers of $(VO_1U),(XSY),(PO_3N)$ , then we have $\triangle VO_1U \cap I_1 \sim \triangle XSY \cap I_2 \sim \triangle NO_3P \cap O_3$ so the rotation - homothetic centre $K$ transform ${O_1,S,O_3}$ to $\overline{I_1,I_2,I_3}$
That means $I_1,I_2,I_3$ are collinear. But $(I_1) \equiv (UO_1V)$ then $I_1 \in $ perpendicular bisector of $UV$
$I_3$ is the NPC so $I_3 \in$ perpendicular bisector of $ UV $ , it followed that the circumcenter of $\triangle XSY$ lies on the perpendicular bisector of $UV$ so it is equidistant from $P$ and $M$
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Supravat
5 posts
#6 • 4 Y
Y by Bx01, AlastorMoody, Rizsgtp, Adventure10
I think the solutions those show that locus of the circumcenter is a straight line are incomplete. If A = 60. Then in both special cases we get the same point. So we can not conclude that this line is the perpendicular bisector of PM.
In fact, in this case the circumcenter of XSY is always the nine point centre Nof ABC. As AH =AO so and HN =NO so AN bisects HAO hence XAY. And D=N. So NX=NY = 2*sinXAN *radius of w = 2*sin30 *SN =SN. So N is the circumcentre of XSY.
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Kayak
1298 posts
#7 • 3 Y
Y by BOBTHEGR8, Adventure10, Mango247
The problem is even more easier to bash if you set the triangle coordinates to be $a,b,\overline{b}$ (all in the unit circle), and apply the formula for circumcenter of $0,x,y$ is $\frac{xy(\overline{y}-\overline{x})}{x\overline{y}-y\overline{x}}$. As obviously $SX = SY$, $x\overline{x} = y \overline{y}$ (after shifting), so a lot of terms cancel and the bash ends very nicely.

BTW I am a bit surprised at the position of this problem in the shortlist, especially because G4 looks lot harder than this.
This post has been edited 1 time. Last edited by Kayak, Oct 18, 2017, 5:57 PM
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WizardMath
2487 posts
#8 • 2 Y
Y by Adventure10, Mango247
Supravat wrote:
I think the solutions those show that locus of the circumcenter is a straight line are incomplete. If A = 60. Then in both special cases we get the same point. So we can not conclude that this line is the perpendicular bisector of PM.
In fact, in this case the circumcenter of XSY is always the nine point centre Nof ABC. As AH =AO so and HN =NO so AN bisects HAO hence XAY. And D=N. So NX=NY = 2*sinXAN *radius of w = 2*sin30 *SN =SN. So N is the circumcentre of XSY.

I think that this case can be handled by continuity as well, as for angles $60^\circ - \epsilon$ and $60^\circ + \epsilon$ the statement is true, hence it is also true for $60^\circ$ from continuity.
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62861
3564 posts
#9 • 3 Y
Y by anantmudgal09, Adventure10, Mango247
Supravat wrote:
I think the solutions those show that locus of the circumcenter is a straight line are incomplete. If A = 60. Then in both special cases we get the same point. So we can not conclude that this line is the perpendicular bisector of PM.
In fact, in this case the circumcenter of XSY is always the nine point centre Nof ABC. As AH =AO so and HN =NO so AN bisects HAO hence XAY. And D=N. So NX=NY = 2*sinXAN *radius of w = 2*sin30 *SN =SN. So N is the circumcentre of XSY.

I believed the $\angle A = 60^{\circ}$ case was problematic as well, but it is not. The circumcenter $O$ of $\triangle XSY$ moves with fixed velocity as $S$ varies with fixed velocity; it follows that if $O$ is ever on the same location twice, then $O$ is always fixed at this point.
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Lamp909
98 posts
#10 • 2 Y
Y by Adventure10, Mango247
My solution is the same as that of anantmudgal09
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rmtf1111
698 posts
#11 • 19 Y
Y by Snakes, Kayak, Ankoganit, rkm0959, Wizard_32, Vfire, AlastorMoody, Greenleaf5002, amar_04, Pluto1708, Pluto04, betongblander, myh2910, CyclicISLscelesTrapezoid, PNT, Adventure10, sabkx, starchan, Math_legendno12
Lamp909 wrote:
My solution is the same as that of anantmudgal09

Thank you for informing us.
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a1267ab
223 posts
#12 • 6 Y
Y by mathroyal, Modesti, CyclicISLscelesTrapezoid, TechnoLenzer, Adventure10, geobo
Here's an alternative solution not based on showing that the circumcenter of $XSY$ varies linearly with $S$.

[asy]
size(10cm);
pair A=dir(70); pair B=dir(220); pair C=dir(-40);
pair O=(0, 0);
pair H=A+B+C;
pair D = foot(A, O, H);
pair D1=2*D-A;
pair O1 = B+C;
pair H1=2*foot(A, B, C)-H;
pair E=circumcenter(B, O, C);

draw(unitcircle);
draw(A--B--C--cycle);
draw(A--D1, orange+dashed);
draw(circumcircle(O, H, D1), red);
draw(D1--H1, dotted);
draw(A--H1);
draw(O--O1);
draw(D1--O1, heavygreen);
draw(D--2*H-O, heavygreen);

string[] names = {"$A$", "$B$", "$C$", "$O$", "$H$", "$D$", "$D'$", "$O'$", "$H'$", "$E$"};
pair[] pts = {A, B, C, O, H, D, D1, O1, H1, E};
pair[] labels = {A, B, C, dir(90), dir(45), D, D1, O1, H1, dir(225)};
for(int i=0; i<names.length; ++i){
dot(names[i], pts[i], dir(labels[i]));
}
[/asy]
Let $O$ and $H$ be the circumcenter and orthocenter of $\triangle ABC$. Let $E$ be the circumcenter of $\triangle BOC$, let $AH$ meet $(ABC)$ again at $H'$, let $O'$ be the reflection of $O$ across $BC$, and let $D'$ be the reflection of $A$ across $OH$. We first prove that $D', E, H'$ are collinear. Since $OHH'O'$ is an isosceles trapezoid, it is cyclic. $AOO'H$ is a parallelogram, so $D'OHO'$ is an isosceles trapezoid as well. Hence $D', O, H, H', O'$ all lie on a circle. The inverse of $O'$ about $(ABC)$ is $E$, so after inverting about $(ABC)$ we find that $D', E, H'$ are collinear.

[asy]
size(10cm);
pair A=dir(70); pair B=dir(220); pair C=dir(-40);
pair O=(0, 0);
pair H=A+B+C;
pair Q=1.5*H-0.5*O;
pair X1=2*foot(Q, A, B)-A;
pair Y1=2*foot(Q, A, C)-A;
pair D = foot(A, O, H);
pair D1=2*D-A;
pair P=foot(A, B, C);
pair M=midpoint(B--C);
pair H1=2*foot(A, B, C)-H;
pair E=circumcenter(B, O, C);
pair T=circumcenter(Q, X1, Y1);

draw(unitcircle);
draw(X1--A--Y1);
draw(B--C);
draw(D1--H1, dotted);
draw(A--H1);
draw(O--T, red);
draw(circumcircle(Q, X1, Y1), orange);
draw(circumcircle(A, X1, Y1), blue+dashed);

string[] names = {"$A$", "$B$", "$C$", "$O$", "$D'$", "$H'$", "$E$", "$Q$", "$X_1$", "$Y_1$", "$T$", "$P$", "$M$"};
pair[] pts = {A, B, C, O, D1, H1, E, Q, X1, Y1, T, P, M};
pair[] labels = {A, B, C, dir(90), D1, H1, dir(225), dir(90), X1, Y1, T, P, dir(135)};
for(int i=0; i<names.length; ++i){
dot(names[i], pts[i], dir(labels[i]));
}
[/asy]

Returning to the problem, take a homothety with ratio $2$ at $A$ which sends points $D, X, Y, S$ to $D', X_1, Y_1, Q$. This homothety also takes the perpendicular bisector of $PM$ to the perpendicular bisector of $BC$. Let $T$ be the circumcenter of $\triangle X_1QY_1$. Since $AD'X_1Y_1$ is cyclic, $D'$ is the center of the spiral similarity sending $\overline{X_1Y_1}$ to $\overline{BC}$, and this spiral similarity also sends $Q$ to $O$ and $T$ to $E$. As a result,
\[\measuredangle D'ET = \measuredangle D'BX_1 = \measuredangle D'BA = \measuredangle D'H'A. \]Therefore $ET\parallel AH'$, so $ET\perp BC$. Since $E$ lies on the perpendicular bisector of $BC$, so does $T$, as desired. (Note that when $\angle A=60^{\circ}$, $D'=E$. Then $T=D'=E$ as well and the statement still holds.)
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GeoMetrix
924 posts
#13 • 2 Y
Y by AmirKhusrau, sameer_chahar12
We firstly state some well known lemma that will be used later on.
  • Let $\omega$ be a circle with center $O$ and let $\overline{AB}$. Let $O'$ be the reflection of $O$ in $\overline{AB}$ and let $X$ be the circumcenter of $\triangle{OAB}$. Then $X,O'$ are inverses of each other with respect to $\omega$.

    Proof: Notice that we have that $\overline{OX}=\frac{OA}{2\sin \theta}$ where $\theta=\angle OAB$ by sine rule in $\triangle{OAB}$ and also we have that $\overline{OO'}=2 \cdot OA \sin \theta$ and with this we are done .

  • In a triangle $\triangle{ABC}$ let $H$ be the orthocenter and let $O$ be the circumcenter. Let $X$ be the midpoint of $\overline{AH}$ and let $M$ be the midpoint of $\overline{BC}$. Then $\overline{XM} \parallel \overline{AO}$.

    This can be easily bashed using complex numbers.
[asy]
size(10cm);
pair A=(8.227184338605278,8.917180830035385);
pair B=(5.836037486558229,-5.602600636257744);
pair C=(22.852265578227577,-5.038029693332168);
pair O=(14.151548373898125,0.48476445751051883);
pair H=(8.61239065559483,-2.6929784145755735);
pair D=(13.333865353835646,0.015670324291781175);
pair S=(14.5510849593405,6.629546963587926);
pair X=(7.827568156749471,6.490588073520484);
pair Y=(17.132485773397857,0.41976777226100737);
pair P=(8.705768203458195,-5.507387609724802);
pair M=(14.344151532392903,-5.320315164794956);
pair T=(11.291157898982467,1.632964751029067);
pair N9=(11.381969514746476,-1.1041069785325273);
pair E=(8.419787497100053,3.1121012077299053);
pair Q=(10.408968970806821,0.28080888219357325);
pair G=(8.39272486321513,3.927771862972893);
pair L=(12.480026965073659,3.455177922890749);
draw(A--B--C--A,purple);
draw(A--P,orange);
draw(circumcircle(A,X,Y),red);
draw(circumcircle(A,B,C),orange);
draw(circumcircle(S,G,D),blue+dashed);
draw(circumcircle(T,Q,D),cyan+dashed);
draw(E--M,magenta);
draw(O--H,green);
draw(T--Q--N9--D--T,lightblue);
draw(T--N9,lightblue);
draw(Q--D,magenta);
draw(S--A,green);
draw(S--Y,green);
draw(S--X,green);
draw(X--Y,green);
draw(G--D,lightblue);
draw(S--T,red);
draw(E--D,magenta+dotted);
draw(A--O,orange);
draw(A--D,cyan);
draw(S--G,green);
draw(S--D,green);
dot("$A$",A,NW);
dot("$B$",B,SW);
dot("$C$",C,SE);
dot("$D$",D,SE);
dot("$M$",M,SE);
dot("$H$",H,W);
dot("$P$",P, SE);
dot("$S$",S,NE);
dot("$X$",X,NW);
dot("$Y$",Y,SW);
dot("$G$",G,W);
dot("$E$",E,SW);
dot("$T$",T,N);
dot("$N_9$",N9,SE);
dot("$Q$",Q,SW);
dot("$L$",L,N);
dot("$O$",O,NE);
[/asy]

We begin with a few claims.

Claim 1: Define $G$ as the intersection of $\odot(AXY)$ with $\overline{AH}$ and define $Q$ as the intersection of $\overline{AH}$ with the perpendicular bisector of $\overline{XY}$. Then show that $(SQDEG)$ is cyclic where $E$ is the midpoint of $\overline{AH}$

Proof: For this firstly notice that
\begin{align*}
&\angle PEQ \\
&=\angle OAQ \\
&=\angle BAC-2 \angle XAG \\
&=\angle XSQ-\angle XSG \\
&=\angle GSQ
\end{align*}and hence $(SGEQ)$ is cyclic. Now notice that $$\angle DEH=2 \angle DAH =\angle DSG $$and with this we are done $\qquad \square$

Claim 2: $Q$ is the reflection of $S$ in $\overline{XY}$.

Proof: We present a computational proof. Notice that $$SQ=SG \cdot  \frac{\sin \angle SGQ}{\sin \angle SQG}=SG \cdot \frac{\sin \angle SEQ}{\sin \angle SEG}=SG \cdot \frac{\sin \angle HOA}{\sin \angle AHO}=SG \cdot \frac{AH}{AO}=2\cdot SG \cdot \cos \angle BAC$$and notice that this is exactly twice the distance from $S$ to $\overline{XY}$ and we are done $\qquad \square$

Claim 3: $(TQDN_9)$ is cyclic where $N_9$ is the nine point center.

Proof: Notice by the second lemma we have that $T,Q$ are inverses with respect to $\odot(AXY)$ and hence inverting gives that $T \in \overline{GD}$. Now notice that
\begin{align*}
& \angle SQE \\
&=\angle SGA \\
&=\angle SEA+ \angle GSE \\ 
&=\angle DHE+\angle GDE \\
&=\angle GDH \\
&=\angle TDN_9
\end{align*}and this finishes the proof $\qquad \square$.

Now back to the main problem. Notice that by reims we have that $\overline{TN_9} \parallel \overline{EG}$ and with this we are done $\qquad \blacksquare$
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KrysTalk
215 posts
#15
Y by
v_Enhance wrote:
We know that in general if $u$ and $v$ lie on a circle centered at $0$, then the circumcenter is given by $\frac{uv}{u+v}$ (the midpoint of $0$ and $\frac{2uv}{u+v}$). So if we shift accordingly we get \[ w = s + \frac{(x-s)(y-s)}{x+y-2s}. \]
I don't understand this line. Can you explain more :(
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Euler_88
19 posts
#16
Y by
Same for me. Can somebody also explain why you have the right to say z=k(a+b+c)? :(
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Nonameyet
15 posts
#17
Y by
KrysTalk wrote:
v_Enhance wrote:
We know that in general if $u$ and $v$ lie on a circle centered at $0$, then the circumcenter is given by $\frac{uv}{u+v}$ (the midpoint of $0$ and $\frac{2uv}{u+v}$). So if we shift accordingly we get \[ w = s + \frac{(x-s)(y-s)}{x+y-2s}. \]
I don't understand this line. Can you explain more :(

What don't you understand?
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Euler_88
19 posts
#18
Y by
but why can you let z=k(a+b+c) (is it because z is on the euler line?) and why is uv/u+v the center of a circle passing through 0,u and v ?
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mathaddiction
308 posts
#19 • 1 Y
Y by Pluto04
Let $O$ and $H$ be the circumcenter and orthocenter of $\triangle ABC$. Let $AH$ and $AD$ meet $(ABC)$ again at $J$ and $E$ respectively. Let $I$ and $G$ be the circumcenter of $(XSY)$ and $(BOC)$ respectively.
CLAIM 1. $J,G,E$ are collinear.
Proof.
Firstly notice that
$$\measuredangle HJE=\measuredangle AJE=\measuredangle ACE=\measuredangle DOE=\measuredangle HOE$$Hence $E$ lies on $(HOJ)$. Let $K$ be the reflection of $O$ in $BC$, then since $H$ and $J$ are reflections of each other in $BC$. Hence $K$ also belongs to $(HOJ)$. Let $B_1$ be the reflection of $O$ over $B$. Let $B_2$ be the midpoint of $OB$. Then $\angle OKB_2=\angle OB_1G=90^{\circ}$. Hence
$$OG\times OK=OB_1\times OB_2=OB^2=OE^2$$Since $OJ=OE$, $G$ lies on $JE$ by shooting lemma. $\blacksquare$

Let $G'$ be the reflection of $G$ in $I$. Let $F$ be the second intersection of $(AXY)$ and $(ABC)$.
CLAIM 2. $G'$ lies on $AH$
Proof. Firstly notice that
$$\angle XSY=2\angle XAY=2\angle BAC=\angle BOC$$Together with $SX=SY$ and $BO=OC$, $\triangle XSY\sim\triangle BOC$. Since $A,D,E$ are collinear, while $I$ and $K$ are corresponding elements in the two triangle, therefore by spiral similarity lemma, $F$ is the center of spiral sim. sending $DE$ to $IG$. Now $A$ and $G'$ are the reflections of $E$ in $D$ and $G$ in $I$ respectively. Therefore
$$\triangle FG'A\sim\triangle FGE$$Hence
$$\measuredangle G'AF=\measuredangle GEF=\measuredangle JEF=\measuredangle JAF$$which implies $G'$ lies on $AH$ as desired.

Now $I$ is the midpoint of $G'$ and $G$. While $P$ and $M$ are the projection of $G"$ and $G$ on $BC$ respectively. This implies $I$ lies on the perpendicular bisector of $PM$ as desired.
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Idio-logy
206 posts
#20 • 2 Y
Y by Eliot, Nathanisme
Another finish with complex numbers: set without loss of generality that $\Re(m) = 0$, and by circumcenter formula the center $O$ of $\omega$ is expressed by
\[o = \frac{1}{2} \left(a+e+\frac{bc(1-a\overline{e})}{b+c}\right) = \frac{1}{2} \cdot \frac{ab+bc+ca+k(b^2+bc+c^2)}{b+c}\]Notice that $b^2+bc+c^2$ is real, so $\Im(ab+bc+ca+k(b^2+bc+c^2))$ is constant. Since $b+c=2m$ is imaginary, we have $\Re(o)$ is a constant not depending on $k$. This means that the locus of $O$ is the line passing through the nine-point center perpendicular to $BC$.

($E = e = k(a+b+c)$ is the antipode of $A$ in $\omega$, which lies on Euler line)
This post has been edited 3 times. Last edited by Idio-logy, Sep 1, 2020, 2:03 AM
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Abhaysingh2003
222 posts
#21
Y by
Here are some problems related with perpendicularity from vertex to the Euler Line

https://artofproblemsolving.com/community/c6h2237565p17170407 (Lemma)
https://artofproblemsolving.com/community/c6h1888731p12879517
https://artofproblemsolving.com/community/c6h2226600p16967110
This post has been edited 2 times. Last edited by Abhaysingh2003, Aug 31, 2020, 4:15 PM
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EulersTurban
386 posts
#22
Y by
Another finish with complex numbers :D

Throw the configuration onto the complex plane, so that we have that $h$ is a real number in other words we have that $a+b+c \in \mathbb{R}$.
Then we can express $s$ as the following $s=k(a+b+c)+iq$, where $k$ is an arbitrary real number and we shall determine $q$ later on.

First we calculate $d$. Since we know that $h$ is a real number then we have that $d$ is also a real number, since the Euler line is the real number line.
Since we have that $AD \perp OH$, then we must have that:
\[\frac{a-d}{\overline{a-d}}=-\frac{h}{h}=-1\]this implies that $d=\frac{1}{2}\left(a+\frac{1}{a}\right)$.
Denote with $T$ the midpoint of $AD$, since we have that $ST \parallel OH$, we must have that:
$$\frac{s-t}{\overline{s-t}}=\frac{0-h}{\overline{0-h}}$$where $t=\frac{a+d}{2}$, pluging all of this we get that:
$$2iq=\frac{a-\frac{1}{a}}{2}$$this implies that $q=\frac{a-\frac{1}{a}}{4i}$, thus giving us that:
$$s=k(a+b+c)+\frac{a-\frac{1}{a}}{4}$$Now we calculate $x$ and $y$.
We have that $\overline{x}=\frac{a+b-x}{ab}$, and since we have that $\mid s-x\mid=\mid s-a \mid$, we must have that $(s-a)\overline{(s-a)}=(s-x)\overline{(s-x)}$, plugging this in we get the following quadratic:
$$-x^2+(a+b+s-ab\overline{s})x+a^2b\overline{s}-ab-as=0$$let $z=b+s-ab\overline{s}$, then the equation has turned into:
$$-x^2+(a+z)x-az=0$$this implies that:
$$x_{1,2}=\frac{a+z \mp a-z}{2}$$giving us that $x=z=b+s-ab\overline{s}$.
Similarly we have that $y=c+s-ac\overline{s}$.
Denote with $G$ the center of $(SXY)$, then we have that:
\[ g=\frac{\begin{vmatrix}
x & x\overline{x} & 1 \\
s & s\overline{s} & 1 \\
y & y\overline{y} & 1
\end{vmatrix}}
{\begin{vmatrix}
x & \overline{x} & 1 \\
s & \overline{s} & 1 \\
y & \overline{y} & 1
\end{vmatrix}} \]Calculating this(calculation done in 30 min), we get that $\mid g-p\mid = \mid g- m\mid$, where $p=\frac{1}{2}\left(a+b+c-bc\overline{a}\right)$ and $m=\frac{1}{2}\left(b+c\right)$.

This implies that $GM=GP$, which is what we needed to prove.
This post has been edited 1 time. Last edited by EulersTurban, Dec 13, 2020, 7:38 PM
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V_V
759 posts
#23
Y by
perhaps we could use laplace vectors/matrixes?
I am not that good at advanced math, this is just my guess but i think laplace vectors or matrixes would help.
Sorry if my concepts are unclear, as I said I am not that great at math
This post has been edited 1 time. Last edited by V_V, Dec 14, 2020, 12:32 AM
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KST2003
173 posts
#24 • 1 Y
Y by hakN
First let's switch the labels of $P$ and $D$. Let $\triangle DEF$ be the orthic triangle of $\triangle ABC$ and let its circumcenter be $N_9$. Let $Q$ be the circumcenter of $\triangle XSY$ and let $R$ be the midpoint of $AH$. Notice that $P$ also lies on the circle with diameter $AH$. Since $\measuredangle PFX=\measuredangle PEY$ and $\measuredangle PXF=\measuredangle PYE$, it follows that $P$ is the center of spiral similarity which maps segment $FX$ to segment $EY$. Thus it also maps segment $FE$ to segment $XY$.
Claim: $\triangle FN_9E\stackrel{+}{\sim}\triangle XQY$.
Proof: Angle chasing gives us
\[\measuredangle QXY=90^\circ-\measuredangle YSX=90^\circ-\measuredangle ERF=\measuredangle N_9FE.\]and similarly we have $\measuredangle QYX=\measuredangle N_9EF$.
Therefore, the spiral similarity mentioned before maps $Q$ to $N_9$. But this means that
\[\measuredangle PN_9Q=\measuredangle PFX=\measuredangle PFA=\measuredangle PHA.\]and so $N_9Q$ is parallel to $AD$. Since $N_9$ is the midpoint of $AD$ and $AD,OM\perp DM$, the line $N_9Q$ is precisely the perpendicular bisector of $DM$ and the result follows.
This post has been edited 1 time. Last edited by KST2003, Mar 4, 2021, 6:47 AM
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Tafi_ak
309 posts
#25
Y by
v_Enhance wrote:
We now determine the coordinates of the circumcenter $W$ of $\triangle XSY$. We know that in general if $u$ and $v$ lie on a circle centered at $0$, then the circumcenter is given by $\frac{uv}{u+v}$ (the midpoint of $0$ and $\frac{2uv}{u+v}$). So if we shift accordingly we get \[ w = s + \frac{(x-s)(y-s)}{x+y-2s}. \]

$\frac{2uv}{u+v}$, this formula is applicable for $u,v$ on the unit circle. But $x,y$ are not on the unit circle. :( How $w$? I didn't understand the shifting part.
This post has been edited 1 time. Last edited by Tafi_ak, Dec 8, 2021, 2:21 PM
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Inconsistent
1455 posts
#26
Y by
Let's imagine a world without moving points.

*shivers*

Ok, let's stop doing that.

Notice $XY$ are pedal points of a point on the Euler line. By properties of continuous spiral similarity centered at $D$, it suffices to prove the claim for two points on the Euler line. For $O$, the midpoint of the midpoints, by 1/2 homothety at $A$, is equidistant from $P$ and $M$. For $H$, the $XSY$ is the nine-point circle, which is the midpoint of $OH$ so projecting onto $BC$, it is equidistant from $P$ and $M$. Since the locus is the perpendicular bisector of $PM$, we are done.
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JAnatolGT_00
559 posts
#27
Y by
Denote by $O,H$ circumcenter and orthocenter and let $Q=AS\cap OH\in \omega.$ Move $Q$ on $OH$ with degree $1:$ $XSY$ and it's circumcenter move with the same degree. When $Q=O$ points $X,Y$ are midpoints of $AB,AC,$ so $XYMP$ form isosceles trapezoid. When $Q=H$ circumcenter of $XSY$ is the nine-point center. In both cases this circumcenter lies on perpendicular bisector of $PM,$ so it does for every $Q.$
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TechnoLenzer
55 posts
#29
Y by
Let $OH$ be the Euler line, with $E = AS \cap OH$. Note that $S$ is the midpoint of $AE$, and let $R$ be the midpoint of $OE$, $T$ the midpoint of $AO$. Let $O_1$ be the circumcircle of $(SXY)$. Let $O_1'$ be the point on $SO_1$ such that $TO_1' \; || \; AH$. Let $\Omega$ be the 9-point circle of $\triangle AOE$, through $R, S, T$ and $D$, the foot of the altitude from $A$ onto $OE$. Note that $ST \; || \; EO$.

Claim 1: $O_1'$ lies on $\Omega$.
Proof: Let $Z = O_1'T \cap AE$. $\measuredangle TO_1'S = \measuredangle ZO_1'S = \measuredangle ZSO_1' + \measuredangle O_1'ZS = \measuredangle ESO_1' + \measuredangle HAE = \measuredangle ESY + \measuredangle YSO_1 + \measuredangle HAE = \measuredangle EAB + \measuredangle EAC + \measuredangle HAE = \measuredangle HAB + \measuredangle EAC = \measuredangle CAO + \measuredangle EAC = \measuredangle EAO = \measuredangle SAT = \measuredangle TRS$, where $\measuredangle SAT = \measuredangle TRS$ is due to $\triangle RST \sim \triangle ABC$. Hence due to angles in a circumcircle, $O_1'$ lies on $\Omega$. $\square$

Claim 2: $O_1' = O_1$.
Proof: We prove $SO_1 = SO_1'$, since $O_1, O_1'$ lie on the same side of $AE$. RemarkLet $r$ be the radius of $\Omega$. By the sine rule,
\begin{align*}
    2r = \frac{SO_1'}{\sin(\angle SQO_1')} = \frac{SO_1'}{\sin(\angle AHO)}.
\end{align*}The radius of $\Omega$ is half the radius of $(AOE)$, and since $AE = 2 \cdot AS$,
\begin{align*}
    2 \cdot 2r = \frac{AE}{\sin(\angle AOE)} \Rightarrow \frac{AS}{\sin(\angle AOE)} = 2r.
\end{align*}Thus
\begin{align*}
    \frac{SO_1'}{SA} = \frac{\sin(\angle AHO)}{\sin(\angle HOA)} = \frac{AO}{AH} = \frac{AO}{AC} \cdot \frac{AC}{AF} \cdot \frac{AF}{AH} = \frac{2}{\sin{\hat{B}}} \cdot \cos{\hat{A}} \cdot \sin{\hat{B}} = 2 \cos{\hat{A}}.
\end{align*}But we also have
\begin{align*}
    \frac{SY}{\sin(\angle SXY)} = \frac{SY}{\sin(90 - \hat{A})} = 2SO_1 \Rightarrow \frac{SO_1}{SA} = 2\cos{\hat{A}}. \square
\end{align*}
The perpendicular from $T$ to $BC$ bisectors $PM$, hence so does that of $O_1$ since $TO_1 \perp BC$. Thus, $O_1$ lies on the perpendicular bisector of $PM$. $\blacksquare$
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DongerLi
22 posts
#30
Y by
[asy]
size(7cm);
defaultpen(fontsize(10pt));

pair A, B, C;
A = dir(110);
B = dir(-162);
C = dir(-18);

pair O, H, D, P, M;
O = circumcenter(A, B, C);
H = orthocenter(A, B, C);
D = foot(A, H, O);
P = foot(A, B, C);
M = (B + C)/2;

pair K, S, X, Y, N, S1;
K = 0.57 * O + 0.43 * H;
S = (A + K)/2;
X = foot(K, A, B);
Y = foot(K, A, C);
N = (X + Y)/2;
S1 = 2 * circumcenter(S, X, Y) - S;

draw(A--B--C--A--P);
draw(circumcircle(A, B, C));
draw(K--A, deepgreen+dashed);
draw(X--K--Y, deepgreen);
draw(circumcircle(A, D, K), red);
draw(A--D, blue);
draw((4.1*O-3.1*H)--(3.1*H-2.1*O), blue);
draw(X--Y, purple);
draw(S--S1, purple+dotted);
draw(circumcircle(S, X, Y), purple+dotted);

dot("$A$", A, dir(110));
dot("$B$", B, dir(-162));
dot("$C$", C, dir(-18));

dot("$O$", O, dir(80));
dot("$H$", H, dir(190));
dot("$D$", D, dir(200));
dot("$P$", P, dir(260));
dot("$M$", M, dir(260));

dot("$K$", K, dir(-100));
dot("$S$", S, dir(60));
dot("$X$", X, dir(185));
dot("$Y$", Y, dir(5));
dot("$N$", N, dir(-95));
dot("$S'$", S1, dir(-95));
[/asy]

Define point $K$ to be the dilation of $S$ by a factor of $2$ about $A$. Here, $\omega = (AK)$ and $K$ is allowed to vary linearly on the Euler line. Let $l$ be the perpendicular bisector of $AD$. Note that as $K$ varies linearly, $S$, $X$, and $Y$ vary linearly on $l$, $AB$, and $AC$, respectively. Hence, the midpoint $N$ of $XY$ also varies linearly. Let $S'$ be the antipode of $S$ in $(SXY)$. Note that
\[\frac{SN}{NS'} = \left(\frac{SN}{NY}\right)^2 = (\tan{\angle NSY})^2 = \tan^2{A},\]which is constant. Since $N$ and $S$ both vary linearly, so does $S'$. It follows that the center of $(XSY)$, midpoint of $SS'$, also varies linearly. Thus, it suffices to prove the problem statement for two such points $K$ on the Euler line.

We choose $H$ and $O$.

If $K = H$, $S$ is the midpoint of $AH$, and $X$, $Y$ are the feet of the altitudes from $B$ and $C$. The circle $(XSY)$ in question is therefore the nine-point circle, whose center lies on the perpendicular bisector of $MP$ .

If $K = O$, we find $S$ to be the midpoint of $AO$, and $X$ and $Y$ to be the midpoints of $AB$ and $AC$, respectively. The circumcenter of $(SXY)$ then lies on $SN$, which is the perpendicular bisector of $MP$.

This completes our proof.
This post has been edited 1 time. Last edited by DongerLi, Jan 25, 2023, 12:39 AM
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math_comb01
659 posts
#31
Y by
Easy and nice problem.
Let $T$ denote the antipode of $A$ in $(AXY)$, then we have the following cases:
$\text{CASE 1:} \quad T \equiv O$
[asy]  /* Geogebra to Asymptote conversion, documentation at artofproblemsolving.com/Wiki go to User:Azjps/geogebra */
import graph; size(12cm); 
real labelscalefactor = 0.5; /* changes label-to-point distance */
pen dps = linewidth(0.7) + fontsize(10); defaultpen(dps); /* default pen style */ 
pen dotstyle = black; /* point style */ 
real xmin = -4.36471658380817, xmax = 14.498175842200546, ymin = -5.39223726459042, ymax = 4.219781556321238;  /* image dimensions */
pen zzttff = rgb(0.6,0.2,1); 

draw((3.12,3.61)--(0.46,-3.87)--(11.44,-3.87)--cycle, linewidth(0.4) + zzttff); 
 /* draw figures */
draw((3.12,3.61)--(0.46,-3.87), linewidth(0.4) + zzttff); 
draw((0.46,-3.87)--(11.44,-3.87), linewidth(0.4) + zzttff); 
draw((11.44,-3.87)--(3.12,3.61), linewidth(0.4) + zzttff); 
draw(circle((4.535,1.0003208556149736), 2.968610826066321), linewidth(0.8) + blue); 
draw((3.12,3.61)--(5.95,-1.6093582887700522), linewidth(0.8)); 
draw((5.95,-1.6093582887700522)--(5.95,-3.87), linewidth(0.8)); 
draw((3.12,3.61)--(3.12,-3.87), linewidth(0.8)); 
draw((1.79,-0.13)--(4.535,1.0003208556149739), linewidth(0.8)); 
draw((4.535,1.0003208556149739)--(7.28,-0.13), linewidth(0.8)); 
draw((1.79,-0.13)--(7.28,-0.13), linewidth(0.8)); 
 /* dots and labels */
dot((3.12,3.61),dotstyle); 
label("$A$", (3.177662346473665,3.7475147356406078), NE * labelscalefactor); 
dot((0.46,-3.87),dotstyle); 
label("$B$", (0.5107438296889277,-3.725413191599959), NE * labelscalefactor); 
dot((11.44,-3.87),dotstyle); 
label("$C$", (11.497892510817715,-3.725413191599959), NE * labelscalefactor); 
dot((5.95,-1.6093582887700522),linewidth(4pt) + dotstyle); 
label("$O$", (6.039043671773957,-1.7668949058361674), NE * labelscalefactor); 
dot((3.12,-0.9112834224598962),linewidth(4pt) + dotstyle); 
label("$H$", (3.177662346473665,-0.7945808632583985), NE * labelscalefactor); 
dot((2.0687040121969074,-0.6519606994429188),linewidth(4pt) + dotstyle); 
label("$D$", (2.1220071002463734,-0.5445572523098293), NE * labelscalefactor); 
dot((1.79,-0.13),linewidth(4pt) + dotstyle); 
label("$X$", (1.8442030880812965,-0.016729629196183367), NE * labelscalefactor); 
dot((7.28,-0.13),linewidth(4pt) + dotstyle); 
label("$Y$", (7.330832328341564,-0.016729629196183367), NE * labelscalefactor); 
dot((4.535,1.0003208556149739),linewidth(4pt) + dotstyle); 
label("$S$", (4.594462808515557,1.1083766200723777), NE * labelscalefactor); 
dot((3.12,-3.87),linewidth(4pt) + dotstyle); 
label("$P$", (3.177662346473665,-3.7531935928164666), NE * labelscalefactor); 
dot((5.95,-3.87),linewidth(4pt) + dotstyle); 
label("$M$", (6.011263270557449,-3.7531935928164666), NE * labelscalefactor); 
dot((4.535,-2.8979750100503),linewidth(4pt) + dotstyle); 
label("$O''$", (4.594462808515557,-2.780879550238698), NE * labelscalefactor); 
clip((xmin,ymin)--(xmin,ymax)--(xmax,ymax)--(xmax,ymin)--cycle); 
 /* end of picture */[/asy]
Let $O''$ be the circumcenter of $\triangle XSY$. Just notice that perpendicular bisectors of $PM$ and $XY$ are the same to get that $O''$ lies on perpendicular bisector of $PM$.
$\text{CASE 2:} \quad T \equiv H$
[asy] /* Geogebra to Asymptote conversion, documentation at artofproblemsolving.com/Wiki go to User:Azjps/geogebra */
import graph; size(12cm); 
real labelscalefactor = 0.5; /* changes label-to-point distance */
pen dps = linewidth(0.7) + fontsize(10); defaultpen(dps); /* default pen style */ 
pen dotstyle = black; /* point style */ 
real xmin = -1.7419188729163546, xmax = 12.001886155190885, ymin = -4.429974238189027, ymax = 2.573496365235269;  /* image dimensions */
pen zzttff = rgb(0.6,0.2,1); pen qqwuqq = rgb(0,0.39215686274509803,0); pen ccqqqq = rgb(0.8,0,0); 

draw((2.78,2.05)--(0.76,-3.09)--(10.56,-3.09)--cycle, linewidth(0.8) + zzttff); 
 /* draw figures */
draw((2.78,2.05)--(0.76,-3.09), linewidth(0.8) + zzttff); 
draw((0.76,-3.09)--(10.56,-3.09), linewidth(0.8) + zzttff); 
draw((10.56,-3.09)--(2.78,2.05), linewidth(0.8) + zzttff); 
draw(circle((2.78,1.0087548638132295), 1.0412451361867703), linewidth(0.8) + qqwuqq); 
draw(circle((4.22,-1.0406225680933903), 2.504705144005615), linewidth(0.8) + ccqqqq); 
 /* dots and labels */
dot((2.78,2.05),dotstyle); label("$A$", (2.8224817660205854,2.148430230345355), NE * labelscalefactor); 
dot((0.76,-3.09),dotstyle); 
label("$B$", (0.7983573141638491,-2.9928458773707467), NE * labelscalefactor); 
dot((10.56,-3.09),dotstyle); 
label("$C$", (10.605240283409735,-2.9928458773707467), NE * labelscalefactor); 
dot((5.66,-2.0487548638132296),linewidth(4pt) + dotstyle); 
label("$O$", (5.696738487657151,-1.9706630291830964), NE * labelscalefactor); 
dot((2.78,-0.03249027237354091),linewidth(4pt) + dotstyle); 
label("$H$", (2.8224817660205854,0.05346142267363664), NE * labelscalefactor); 
dot((1.8016049241530079,0.6524761678588333),linewidth(4pt) + dotstyle); 
label("$D$", (1.8407814068700683,0.7315431140456422), NE * labelscalefactor); 
dot((2.78,1.0087548638132295),linewidth(4pt) + dotstyle); 
label("$S$", (2.8224817660205854,1.0857648931205706), NE * labelscalefactor); 
dot((2.071079344262295,0.24611278688524568),linewidth(4pt) + dotstyle); 
label("$X$", (2.1140382078707276,0.3267182236742956), NE * labelscalefactor); 
dot((3.7377807425127645,1.4172245480057057),linewidth(4pt) + dotstyle); 
label("$Y$", (3.7738202583932514,1.5007104057512006), NE * labelscalefactor); 
dot((4.22,-1.0406225680933852),linewidth(4pt) + dotstyle); 
label("$N_{9}$", (4.259610126838869,-0.9586008032547298), NE * labelscalefactor); 
dot((2.78,-3.09),linewidth(4pt) + dotstyle); 
label("$P$", (2.8224817660205854,-3.013087121889314), NE * labelscalefactor); 
dot((5.66,-3.09),linewidth(4pt) + dotstyle); 
label("$M$", (5.696738487657151,-3.013087121889314), NE * labelscalefactor); 
clip((xmin,ymin)--(xmin,ymax)--(xmax,ymax)--(xmax,ymin)--cycle); 
 /* end of picture */[/asy]
all lie on nine point circle
$\text{CASE 3 :} \quad T \not\equiv H,O$
[asy]  /* Geogebra to Asymptote conversion, documentation at artofproblemsolving.com/Wiki go to User:Azjps/geogebra */
import graph; size(12cm); 
real labelscalefactor = 0.5; /* changes label-to-point distance */
pen dps = linewidth(0.7) + fontsize(10); defaultpen(dps); /* default pen style */ 
pen dotstyle = black; /* point style */ 
real xmin = -9.249767422915646, xmax = 8.321611580789027, ymin = -3.820030982745853, ymax = 5.133867596461554;  /* image dimensions */
pen zzttqq = rgb(0.6,0.2,0); pen zzttff = rgb(0.6,0.2,1); 

draw((-1.6544806223452169,4.69393616337911)--(-5.5089610303002345,-2.345013343607709)--(5.06,-1.64)--cycle, linewidth(2) + zzttqq); 
draw((-2.353213494872263,3.417928793244585)--(-1.0334166145108656,2.758924130777999)--(-1.1611468347842868,4.228562161516616)--cycle, linewidth(0.8) + zzttff); 
draw((-2.7738546959360164,2.6497650301767286)--(-0.8934889087838629,0.6612468565858854)--(-0.18054456324227472,3.303535709144152)--cycle, linewidth(0.8) + zzttff); 
draw((-3.5817208263227256,1.1744614098857005)--(-0.624749532151955,-3.367465542523285)--(1.7027596888273915,1.5269680816895552)--cycle, linewidth(0.8) + zzttff); 
 /* draw figures */
draw((-1.6544806223452169,4.69393616337911)--(-5.5089610303002345,-2.345013343607709), linewidth(0.4) + zzttqq); 
draw((-5.5089610303002345,-2.345013343607709)--(5.06,-1.64), linewidth(0.4) + zzttqq); 
draw((5.06,-1.64)--(-1.6544806223452169,4.69393616337911), linewidth(0.4) + zzttqq); 
draw(circle((-1.8629437636790365,3.978774801703462), 0.744924596538825), linewidth(0.4) + linetype("4 4")); 
draw((-2.353213494872263,3.417928793244585)--(-1.0334166145108656,2.758924130777999), linewidth(0.8) + zzttff); 
draw((-1.0334166145108656,2.758924130777999)--(-1.1611468347842868,4.228562161516616), linewidth(0.8) + zzttff); 
draw((-1.1611468347842868,4.228562161516616)--(-2.353213494872263,3.417928793244585), linewidth(0.8) + zzttff); 
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$F$ and $G$ denote the feet of perpendiculars from $B$ and $C$ to opposite side. Let $Q$ and $N$ be midpoints of $AB$ and $AC$.$E$ is circumcenter of $\triangle XSY$.
Notice $\measuredangle XEY = \measuredangle FN_9G= \measuredangle QO''N$
and $\frac{XE}{EY}=\frac{FN_9}{N_9G}=\frac{FO''}{O''N}=1$. By gliding principle we're done.
This post has been edited 1 time. Last edited by math_comb01, Dec 13, 2023, 7:03 PM
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HamstPan38825
8853 posts
#32
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Complex numbers is most definitely the nicest way to go about this ... solution from the OTIS walkthrough.

We will instead define $z = k(a+b+c)$ to be the $A$-antipode in $(AXY)$; the condition implies that $Z$ lies on $\overline{OH}$, hence $k$ is real. Hence, we have the following formulas:
\begin{align*}
z &= k(a+b+c) \\
s &= \frac 12(a+z) \\
x &= \frac 12(a+b+z-ab\overline z) \\
y &= \frac 12(a+c+z-ac\overline z)
w = s + \frac{(x-s)(y-s)}{x+y-2s}.
\end{align*}Here, the last line follows from the shifted circumcenter formula, observing that $x, y$ lie on a circle centered at $s$. It then suffices to show that $\overline{WN_9} \perp \overline{BC}$, i.e. $\frac{w-\frac{a+b+c}2}{b-c}$ is pure imaginary. The rest is pure computation:
\begin{align*}
w - \frac{a+b+c}2 &= s+\frac{(b-ab\overline z)(c-zc\overline z)}{2(b+c-ab\overline z - ac\overline z)} -\frac{a+b+c}2\\
&= \frac 12\left(a+z+\frac{bc(1-a\overline z)}{b+c}\right) \\
&= \frac z2 - \frac b2 - \frac c2 + \frac{bc(1-a\overline z)}{2(b+c)} \\
&= \frac{b^2k+c^2k+bck-b^2-c^2-2bc+bc}{b+c} \\
&= \frac{(k-1)(b^2+c^2+bc)}{b+c}.
\end{align*}This is a constant multiple of $\frac{b^2+c^2+bc}{b+c}$, and note that $\frac{b^2+c^2+bc}{b^2-c^2}$ clearly equals its own conjugate. This finishes the problem.
This post has been edited 1 time. Last edited by HamstPan38825, Mar 11, 2024, 4:40 PM
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dolphinday
1310 posts
#33
Y by
We will use moving points.
Let $W$ be the circumcenter of $\triangle XSY$.
Fix $\triangle ABC$(thus fixing $D$) and move $X$ on line $\overline{AB}$. Then since $D$ and $A$ are fixed and $Y$ lies on line $\overline{AC}$ and on circle $(ADX)$ we have the map of moving points $X \to Y$ is linear. Since $\angle BOC = 2\angle A = \angle XSY$, so $\triangle XSY \sim \triangle BOC$ is fixed, which implies that $X \to W$ is a linear map.
We now check whether the problem is true for $deg(W) + 1 = 1 + 1 = 2$ cases.
If $X$ is the projection of $H$ onto $AB$ we have that $\angle HXA = 90^\circ = \angle HSA \implies S$ is the midpoint of $HA$. It follows that $W$ is the center of the nine-point circle which passes through $P$ and $M$.
If $X$ is the projection of $O$ onto $AB$, similarly we have $S$ being the midpoint of $AO$.
Then note that $S$ lies on the perpendicular bisector of $PM$ by homothety since $OM \parallel AP$. Clearly the perpendicular bisector of $PM$ also perpendicularly bisects $XY$, so it passes through $W$ as desired.
This post has been edited 1 time. Last edited by dolphinday, Jun 24, 2024, 3:38 PM
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