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k a May Highlights and 2025 AoPS Online Class Information
jlacosta   0
May 1, 2025
May is an exciting month! National MATHCOUNTS is the second week of May in Washington D.C. and our Founder, Richard Rusczyk will be presenting a seminar, Preparing Strong Math Students for College and Careers, on May 11th.

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[*]May 21st, 4:00pm PT/7:00pm ET, Mathcamp 2025 Qualifying Quiz Part 2 Math Jam, Problems 5 and 6, Canada/USA Mathcamp staff will discuss solutions to Problems 5 and 6 of the 2025 Mathcamp Qualifying Quiz![/list]
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0 replies
jlacosta
May 1, 2025
0 replies
k i Adding contests to the Contest Collections
dcouchman   1
N Apr 5, 2023 by v_Enhance
Want to help AoPS remain a valuable Olympiad resource? Help us add contests to AoPS's Contest Collections.

Find instructions and a list of contests to add here: https://artofproblemsolving.com/community/c40244h1064480_contests_to_add
1 reply
dcouchman
Sep 9, 2019
v_Enhance
Apr 5, 2023
k i Zero tolerance
ZetaX   49
N May 4, 2019 by NoDealsHere
Source: Use your common sense! (enough is enough)
Some users don't want to learn, some other simply ignore advises.
But please follow the following guideline:


To make it short: ALWAYS USE YOUR COMMON SENSE IF POSTING!
If you don't have common sense, don't post.


More specifically:

For new threads:


a) Good, meaningful title:
The title has to say what the problem is about in best way possible.
If that title occured already, it's definitely bad. And contest names aren't good either.
That's in fact a requirement for being able to search old problems.

Examples:
Bad titles:
- "Hard"/"Medium"/"Easy" (if you find it so cool how hard/easy it is, tell it in the post and use a title that tells us the problem)
- "Number Theory" (hey guy, guess why this forum's named that way¿ and is it the only such problem on earth¿)
- "Fibonacci" (there are millions of Fibonacci problems out there, all posted and named the same...)
- "Chinese TST 2003" (does this say anything about the problem¿)
Good titles:
- "On divisors of a³+2b³+4c³-6abc"
- "Number of solutions to x²+y²=6z²"
- "Fibonacci numbers are never squares"


b) Use search function:
Before posting a "new" problem spend at least two, better five, minutes to look if this problem was posted before. If it was, don't repost it. If you have anything important to say on topic, post it in one of the older threads.
If the thread is locked cause of this, use search function.

Update (by Amir Hossein). The best way to search for two keywords in AoPS is to input
[code]+"first keyword" +"second keyword"[/code]
so that any post containing both strings "first word" and "second form".


c) Good problem statement:
Some recent really bad post was:
[quote]$lim_{n\to 1}^{+\infty}\frac{1}{n}-lnn$[/quote]
It contains no question and no answer.
If you do this, too, you are on the best way to get your thread deleted. Write everything clearly, define where your variables come from (and define the "natural" numbers if used). Additionally read your post at least twice before submitting. After you sent it, read it again and use the Edit-Button if necessary to correct errors.


For answers to already existing threads:


d) Of any interest and with content:
Don't post things that are more trivial than completely obvious. For example, if the question is to solve $x^{3}+y^{3}=z^{3}$, do not answer with "$x=y=z=0$ is a solution" only. Either you post any kind of proof or at least something unexpected (like "$x=1337, y=481, z=42$ is the smallest solution). Someone that does not see that $x=y=z=0$ is a solution of the above without your post is completely wrong here, this is an IMO-level forum.
Similar, posting "I have solved this problem" but not posting anything else is not welcome; it even looks that you just want to show off what a genius you are.

e) Well written and checked answers:
Like c) for new threads, check your solutions at least twice for mistakes. And after sending, read it again and use the Edit-Button if necessary to correct errors.



To repeat it: ALWAYS USE YOUR COMMON SENSE IF POSTING!


Everything definitely out of range of common sense will be locked or deleted (exept for new users having less than about 42 posts, they are newbies and need/get some time to learn).

The above rules will be applied from next monday (5. march of 2007).
Feel free to discuss on this here.
49 replies
ZetaX
Feb 27, 2007
NoDealsHere
May 4, 2019
Trigonometric Product
Henryfamz   3
N 4 minutes ago by Aiden-1089
Compute $$\prod_{n=1}^{45}\sin(2n-1)$$
3 replies
Henryfamz
May 13, 2025
Aiden-1089
4 minutes ago
"Eulerian" closed walk with of length less than v+e
Miquel-point   0
21 minutes ago
Source: IMAR 2019 P4
Show that a connected graph $G=(V, E)$ has a closed walk of length at most $|V|+|E|-1$ passing through each edge of $G$ at least once.

Proposed by Radu Bumbăcea
0 replies
Miquel-point
21 minutes ago
0 replies
IMO Genre Predictions
ohiorizzler1434   67
N 23 minutes ago by ihatemath123
Everybody, with IMO upcoming, what are you predictions for the problem genres?


Personally I predict: predict
67 replies
ohiorizzler1434
May 3, 2025
ihatemath123
23 minutes ago
A little problem
TNKT   3
N 34 minutes ago by Pengu14
Source: Tran Ngoc Khuong Trang
Problem. Let a,b,c be three positive real numbers with a+b+c=3. Prove that \color{blue}{\frac{1}{4a^{2}+9}+\frac{1}{4b^{2}+9}+\frac{1}{4c^{2}+9}\le \frac{3}{abc+12}.}
When does equality hold?
P/s: Could someone please convert it to latex help me? Thank you!
See also MSE: https://math.stackexchange.com/questions/5065499/prove-that-frac14a29-frac14b29-frac14c29-le-frac3
3 replies
TNKT
Yesterday at 1:17 PM
Pengu14
34 minutes ago
f(x + f(y)) is equal to x + f(y) or f(f(x)) + y
parmenides51   5
N 44 minutes ago by EpicBird08
Source: Hong Kong TST - HKTST 2024 2.4
Find all functions $f:\mathbb{R}\rightarrow\mathbb{R}$ satisfying the following condition: for any real numbers $x$ and $y$, the number $f(x + f(y))$ is equal to $x + f(y)$ or $f(f(x)) + y$
5 replies
parmenides51
Jul 20, 2024
EpicBird08
44 minutes ago
The sequence does not contain numbers of the form 2^n - 1
Amir Hossein   9
N an hour ago by Fibonacci_11235
Prove that the sequence $5, 12, 19, 26, 33,\cdots $ contains no term of the form $2^n -1.$
9 replies
Amir Hossein
Sep 2, 2010
Fibonacci_11235
an hour ago
D1024 : Can you do that?
Dattier   6
N 2 hours ago by Phorphyrion
Source: les dattes à Dattier
Let $x_{n+1}=x_n^2+1$ and $x_0=1$.

Can you calculate $\left(\sum\limits_{i=1}^{2^{2025}} x_i\right) \mod 10^{30}$?
6 replies
Dattier
Apr 29, 2025
Phorphyrion
2 hours ago
inequalities
Ducksohappi   1
N 2 hours ago by Nguyenhuyen_AG
let a,b,c be non-negative numbers such that ab+bc+ca>0. Prove:
$ \sum_{cyc} \frac{b+c}{2a^2+bc}\ge \frac{6}{a+b+c}$
P/s: I have analysed:$ S_a=\frac{b^2+c^2+3bc-ab-ac}{(2b^2+ac)(2c^2+2ab)}$, similarly to $S_b, S_c$, by SOS
1 reply
Ducksohappi
4 hours ago
Nguyenhuyen_AG
2 hours ago
Two lengths are equal
62861   30
N 2 hours ago by Ilikeminecraft
Source: IMO 2015 Shortlist, G5
Let $ABC$ be a triangle with $CA \neq CB$. Let $D$, $F$, and $G$ be the midpoints of the sides $AB$, $AC$, and $BC$ respectively. A circle $\Gamma$ passing through $C$ and tangent to $AB$ at $D$ meets the segments $AF$ and $BG$ at $H$ and $I$, respectively. The points $H'$ and $I'$ are symmetric to $H$ and $I$ about $F$ and $G$, respectively. The line $H'I'$ meets $CD$ and $FG$ at $Q$ and $M$, respectively. The line $CM$ meets $\Gamma$ again at $P$. Prove that $CQ = QP$.

Proposed by El Salvador
30 replies
62861
Jul 7, 2016
Ilikeminecraft
2 hours ago
Geometry with altitudes and the nine point centre
Adywastaken   4
N 3 hours ago by Miquel-point
Source: KoMaL B5333
The foot of the altitude from vertex $A$ of acute triangle $ABC$ is $T_A$. The ray drawn from $A$ through the circumcenter $O$ intersects $BC$ at $R_A$. Let the midpoint of $AR_A$ be $F_A$. Define $T_B$, $R_B$, $F_B$, $T_C$, $R_C$, $F_C$ similarly. Prove that $T_AF_A$, $T_BF_B$, $T_CF_C$ are concurrent.
4 replies
Adywastaken
May 14, 2025
Miquel-point
3 hours ago
Find all p(x) such that p(p) is a power of 2
truongphatt2668   4
N 3 hours ago by Laan
Source: ???
Find all polynomial $P(x) \in \mathbb{R}[x]$ such that:
$$P(p_i) = 2^{a_i}$$with $p_i$ is an $i$ th prime and $a_i$ is an arbitrary positive integer.
4 replies
truongphatt2668
Yesterday at 1:05 PM
Laan
3 hours ago
Easy combinatorics
GreekIdiot   0
3 hours ago
Source: own, inspired by another problem
You are given a $5 \times 5$ grid with each cell colored with an integer from $0$ to $15$. Two players take turns. On a turn, a player may increase any one cell’s value by a power of 2 (i.e., add 1, 2, 4, or 8 mod 16). The first player wins if, after their move, the sum of each row and the sum of each column is congruent to 0 modulo 16. Prove whether or not Player 1 has a forced win strategy from any starting configuration.
0 replies
GreekIdiot
3 hours ago
0 replies
Concurrency in Parallelogram
amuthup   91
N 3 hours ago by Rayvhs
Source: 2021 ISL G1
Let $ABCD$ be a parallelogram with $AC=BC.$ A point $P$ is chosen on the extension of ray $AB$ past $B.$ The circumcircle of $ACD$ meets the segment $PD$ again at $Q.$ The circumcircle of triangle $APQ$ meets the segment $PC$ at $R.$ Prove that lines $CD,AQ,BR$ are concurrent.
91 replies
amuthup
Jul 12, 2022
Rayvhs
3 hours ago
concyclic wanted, diameter related
parmenides51   3
N 4 hours ago by Giant_PT
Source: China Northern MO 2023 p1 CNMO
As shown in the figure, $AB$ is the diameter of circle $\odot O$, and chords $AC$ and $BD$ intersect at point $E$, $EF\perp AB$ intersects at point $F$, and $FC$ intersects $BD$ at point $G$. Point $M$ lies on $AB$ such that $MD=MG$ . Prove that points $F$, $M$, $D$, $G$ lies on a circle.
IMAGE
3 replies
parmenides51
May 5, 2024
Giant_PT
4 hours ago
geometry with quadrilateral, tangent circles wanted
trying_to_solve_br   55
N Apr 19, 2025 by cj13609517288
Source: IMO 2020 Shortlist G3
Let $ABCD$ be a convex quadrilateral with $\angle ABC>90$, $CDA>90$ and $\angle DAB=\angle BCD$. Denote by $E$ and $F$ the reflections of $A$ in lines $BC$ and $CD$, respectively. Suppose that the segments $AE$ and $AF$ meet the line $BD$ at $K$ and $L$, respectively. Prove that the circumcircles of triangles $BEK$ and $DFL$ are tangent to each other.

$\emph{Slovakia}$
55 replies
trying_to_solve_br
Jul 20, 2021
cj13609517288
Apr 19, 2025
geometry with quadrilateral, tangent circles wanted
G H J
G H BBookmark kLocked kLocked NReply
Source: IMO 2020 Shortlist G3
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trying_to_solve_br
191 posts
#1 • 5 Y
Y by centslordm, betongblander, deplasmanyollari, lian_the_noob12, Rounak_iitr
Let $ABCD$ be a convex quadrilateral with $\angle ABC>90$, $CDA>90$ and $\angle DAB=\angle BCD$. Denote by $E$ and $F$ the reflections of $A$ in lines $BC$ and $CD$, respectively. Suppose that the segments $AE$ and $AF$ meet the line $BD$ at $K$ and $L$, respectively. Prove that the circumcircles of triangles $BEK$ and $DFL$ are tangent to each other.

$\emph{Slovakia}$
This post has been edited 3 times. Last edited by trying_to_solve_br, Jul 21, 2021, 12:11 PM
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VulcanForge
626 posts
#2 • 3 Y
Y by centslordm, Dukejukem, Chokechoke
Let $A'$ be the reflection of $A$ over $BD$. We show the circles are tangent at $A'$. Indeed, $BEKA'$ is cyclic because$$\measuredangle BA'K = -\measuredangle BAK = \measuredangle BEA = \measuredangle BEK$$and similarly $DFLA'$ is cyclic. Hence by reflection across $BD$ it suffices to show $(ABK)$ and $(ADL)$ are tangent at $A$: let the tangents at $A$ to these circles be $\ell_1, \ell_2$ respectively. Indeed, note
\begin{align*}
	\measuredangle (\overline{AB}, \ell_1)+ \measuredangle (\ell_2, \overline{AD}) &= \measuredangle BKA + \measuredangle ALD \\
    &= \measuredangle LKA + \measuredangle ALK \\
    &= \measuredangle LAK = \measuredangle (\overline{CD}, \overline{CB})\\
    &= \measuredangle (\overline{AB}, \overline{AD})
\end{align*}hence $\ell_1=\ell_2$.
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bora_olmez
277 posts
#3 • 1 Y
Y by centslordm
Cool problem.

$\textbf{Lemma 1:}$ The circumcircles of $\triangle ADL$ and $\triangle ABK$ are tangent at $A$
$\textbf{Proof)}$
Notice that $$\angle LAK = 180^{\circ}-\angle CDB = 180^{\circ} - \angle DAB$$We consequently have that $$\angle DKA + \angle ADK = 180^{\circ} - \angle DAK = \angle LAB$$Now, if we select a point $T$ inside $\triangle DAK$ such that $AT$ is tangent to the circumcircle of $\triangle DAL$, we have that $$ \angle KAB = \angle DKA = \angle LAB - \angle KDA = \angle BAT + \angle LAT - \angle DLA = \angle BAT$$meaning that $AT$ is also tangent to the circumcircle of $\triangle BAK$. $\square$

$\textbf{Lemma 2:}$ The circumcircles of $\triangle DFL$ and $\triangle BKE$ are tangent
$\textbf{Proof)}$
Notice that if we let $A'$ be the reflection of $A$ across $BD$, then $$\angle DA'L = \angle DAL = \angle DFL$$meaning that $A'$ lies on the circumcircle of $\triangle DFL$. Analagously, $A'$ also lies on the circumcircle of $\triangle BKE$.
Moreover, notice that the circumcircles of $\triangle A'LD$ and $\triangle A'BK$ are tangent by $\textbf{Lemma 1}$ meaning indeed that the circumcircles of $\triangle BEK$ and $\triangle DFL$ are tangent to each other. $\blacksquare$
This post has been edited 1 time. Last edited by bora_olmez, Jul 20, 2021, 9:42 PM
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pad
1671 posts
#4
Y by
Solved with dantaxyz.

Diagram
Let $A'$ be the reflection of $A$ over $\overline{BD}$. We claim $A'$ is the desired tangency point. First, we show it lies on each of the circles. Let $A_1$ and $E_1$ be the feet from $A$ to $\overline{BD}$ and $\overline{BC}$ respectively. Noticing that $AE_1BA_1$ is cyclic, note
\begin{align*}
\angle KEA' = \angle AEA' &= \angle AE_1A_1 = \angle ABD \\ &= 180^\circ-\angle KBA = 180^\circ-\angle KBA',
\end{align*}so $KBA'E$ is cyclic. Hence $A' \in (BEK), (DFL)$. To show the tangency at $A'$, it suffices to show
\[ \tfrac12 \widehat{BA'} + \tfrac12 \widehat{DA'} = \angle BA'D. \]We have $\tfrac12 \widehat{BA'}=\angle BKA'=\angle BKA=90^\circ-\angle DBC$, and similarly $\tfrac12 \widehat{DA'} = 90^\circ-\angle BDC$, so their sum is $(90^\circ-\angle DBC)+(90^\circ-\angle BDC)=\angle BCD = \angle BAD$, since $\angle A=\angle C$, and we are done.
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MP8148
888 posts
#5
Y by
[asy]
size(8cm);
defaultpen(fontsize(10pt));

pair A = dir(110), B = dir(195), D = dir(345), C = 2*foot(dir(80),B,D)-dir(80), P = foot(A,B,D), A1 = 2P-A, E = 2*foot(A,B,C)-A, F = 2*foot(A,C,D)-A, K = extension(B,D,A,E), L = extension(A,F,B,D), Ob = circumcenter(A1,B,E), Od = circumcenter(A1,D,F), B1 = extension(B,C,A,E), D1 = extension(C,D,A,F);

draw(B--B1^^D--D1, purple+dotted);
draw(A--B--C--D--A, purple);
draw(B--A1--D, purple);
draw(K--L^^E--A--F^^A1--A, heavycyan);
draw(circumcircle(B,C,D), heavygreen);
draw(circumcircle(B,K,E)^^circumcircle(D,L,F), orange);
draw(Ob--Od, magenta);

dot("$A$", A, dir(90));
dot("$B$", B, dir(225));
dot("$C$", C, dir(270));
dot("$D$", D, dir(315));
dot("$A'$", A1, dir(255));
dot("$P$", P, dir(45));
dot("$E$", E, dir(150));
dot("$F$", F, dir(45));
dot("$B_1$", B1, dir(135));
dot("$D_1$", D1, dir(60));
dot("$K$", K, dir(135));
dot("$L$", L, dir(60));
dot("$O_B$", Ob, dir(165));
dot("$O_D$", Od, dir(345));
[/asy]

Let $B_1$, $D_1$ be the midpoints of $\overline{AE}$, $\overline{AF}$ respectively. Let $P$ be the foot from $A$ to $\overline{BC}$ and $A'$ be the reflection of $A$ over $P$. I claim that $A'$ is the desired tangency point.

Claim: $A’BKE$, $A’DLF$ are cyclic.

Proof. Since $\overline{B_1P}$ is the $A$-midline in $\triangle AEA'$, we have $$\measuredangle KEA' = \measuredangle AEA' = \measuredangle AB_1P = \measuredangle ABP = \measuredangle PBA' = \measuredangle KBA',$$so $A’BKE$ is cyclic, and the other follows analogously. $\square$

To finish, let $O_B$ be the center of $(A'BKE)$ and $O_D$ be the center of $(A'DLF)$. Note that $B$ is the center of $(AEA')$, so $$\angle O_BA'B = \frac 12 \angle A'BE = \angle A'AE.$$Thus \begin{align*}\angle O_BA'B + \angle BA'D + \angle DA'O_D &= \angle A'AE + \angle BCD + \angle FAA' \\ &= \angle DBC + \angle BCD + \angle CDB \\ &= 180^\circ,\end{align*}which means $O_B$, $A'$, $O_D$ are collinear, and we are done.
This post has been edited 1 time. Last edited by MP8148, Jul 21, 2021, 4:25 AM
Reason: Typo
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DakuMangalSingh
72 posts
#6
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Inversion
This post has been edited 1 time. Last edited by DakuMangalSingh, Jul 21, 2021, 3:32 AM
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Kagebaka
3001 posts
#7
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The key observation is that the point of tangency is $A',$ the reflection of $A$ over $BD.$ Observe that $\measuredangle DFL = \measuredangle LAD=\measuredangle DA'L,$ so $A'\in (LDF)$ and similarly $A'\in (KBE).$ Now suppose that line $\ell$ is tangent to $(LDF)$ at $A'.$ Then we obviously have $\measuredangle (LA',\ell) = \measuredangle LDA' = \measuredangle ADB,$ but on the other hand we find that
\begin{align*}
\measuredangle LA'K &= \measuredangle KAL \\
&= \measuredangle BAD - \measuredangle BAH - \measuredangle IAD \\
&= \measuredangle BAD - (90^\circ - \measuredangle HBA) - (90^\circ - \measuredangle ADI) \\
&= \measuredangle BAD + (360^\circ - 2\measuredangle BAD) - 180^\circ \\
&= \measuredangle DBA + \measuredangle ADB,
\end{align*}so in fact $\measuredangle (\ell, KA') = \measuredangle DBA = \measuredangle A'BK,$ meaning that $\ell$ is tangent to $(KBE)$ at $A'$ as well. $\blacksquare$
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Kamran011
678 posts
#8
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Really nice problem, though I drammatically missed it (and hence the IMO) after guessing the tangency point, more here (see Day 2).
This post has been edited 1 time. Last edited by Kamran011, Jul 21, 2021, 5:17 AM
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hukilau17
288 posts
#9
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complex bash

side note
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JAnatolGT_00
559 posts
#11
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Let $T$ be reflection of $A$ wrt $BD$. Then $\measuredangle DTL=\measuredangle FAD=\measuredangle DFL\implies T\in \odot (DFL)$. Analogously $T\in \odot (BEK)$.
Finally $\measuredangle BTD=\measuredangle BCD=\measuredangle KAL=\measuredangle DLA+\measuredangle AKB=\measuredangle TLD+\measuredangle BKT$, hence $T$ is desired tangency point.
This post has been edited 2 times. Last edited by JAnatolGT_00, Jul 21, 2021, 6:44 PM
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SerdarBozdag
892 posts
#12
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If $A'$ is the reflection of $A$ wrt $BD$ then $\angle BA'K=\angle BAK=\angle BEK \implies A' \in (KBE)$. Similarly $A' \in (DLF)$. $\angle A'KB+\angle A'DL=180-(180-\angle BCD)=\angle BA'D$ which implies $A'$ is the desired tangency point.
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franchester
1487 posts
#13
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turns out having a logic fault and assuming ABCD is a kite was actuallly pretty useful

Denote $A'$ as the reflection of $A$ over $BD$. The claim is that $A'$ is the desired tangency point.

First, we show that $A'$ lies on both circles. This follows from the fact that $B$ is the circumcenter of $AEA'$ --- assume this triangle is acute (the obtuse case follows similarly): \[\angle EBA'=2\angle A'AE=\angle KAA'+\angle KA'A=\angle EKA'\]which impllies the concylicity. $A'$ lying on $(DFL)$ follows similarly.

Note that in order to show the two circles are tangent, it suffices to show $\angle A'EB+\angle A'FD=\angle BA'D$ (consider constructing the tangents at $A'$ for both circles). This is, again, angle chase using the two circumcenters $B$ and $D$: \[\angle A'EB+\angle A'FD=90^{\circ}-\angle EAA'+90^{\circ}-\angle FAA'=180^{\circ}-\angle EAF\]\[=90^{\circ}-\angle CAE+90^{\circ}-\angle CAF=\angle BCA+\angle DCA=\angle BCD=\angle BAD=\angle BA'D\]as desired.
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KST2003
173 posts
#14
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Let $T$ be the reflection of $A$ over $\overline{BD}$. We claim that this is the desired tangency point. Observe that
\[ \measuredangle DTL = -\measuredangle DAL = \measuredangle DFL, \]and hence $T$ lies on $(DFL)$. Similarly, $T$ also lies on $(BEK)$. Now reflect these two circles over $\overline{BD}$. It suffices to show that $(BKA)$ and $(DAL)$ are tangent to each other at $A$. Just notice that
\[ \measuredangle ABK + \measuredangle DLA = \measuredangle BAL = \measuredangle BAK + \measuredangle KAL = \measuredangle BAK + \measuredangle BCD = \measuredangle BAK + \measuredangle DAB = \measuredangle DAK, \]and we are done.
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FAA2533
65 posts
#15
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Solution
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Eyed
1065 posts
#16 • 1 Y
Y by greenish
Define $A'$ as the reflection of $A$ over $BD$. Observe that
\[\angle KEA' = \angle ABP = 180 - \angle KBA'\]so $(EKBA')$ is cyclic. Similarly, $(FLDA')$ is cyclic. Now, if the centers of $(EKB)$ and $(FDL)$ were $O_{1}$ and $O_{2}$ respectively, then
\[\angle O_{1}A'A + \angle O_{2}A'A = \angle O_{1}A'B + \angle O_{2}A'D + \angle BA'D = \angle CBD + \angle BDC + \angle BCD = 180\]Therefore, $O_{1}, A', O_{2}$ are collinear, so $(BKE)$ and $(DLF)$ are tangent at $A'$.
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