Geometry

Power of a point
We introduce a powerful concept when dealing with circles, the power of a point, defined as
such:

Power of point w.r.t. the circle = = = 2 2

By convention it is positive if is outside the circle and negative otherwise.
It is easy to prove that = using similar triangles ~ . Hence,
the power of point P depends only on the point and the circle. The final expression can also
be easily derived by drawing the line from to the centre of the circle to get power of point
of = ( + )( ) = 2 2, where is the radius of the circle and the centre.
Note the converse is also true: if two lines and intersect at and =
, then is concyclic. This can also be proven similarly using similar triangles.
For the special case when is outside the circle and is tangent to the circle at , we also
have:

Power of point w.r.t. the circle = = 2

Radical axis and radical centre
We can expand on the previous concept to more circles. In particular, given 2 nonconcentric circles 1 and 2 lets look at all the points such that power of point w.r.t.
both circles 1 and 2 are equal.

We realize they all lie on a vertical line between the 2 circles. We call it the radical axis. This
fact can be proven using coordinate geometry: Let 1 (0, 0) and 2 (1, 0) be the centre of
the circles and 1 and 2 be their respective radii. Power of point (, ) w.r.t. both circles
are the same iff
12 12 = 22 22 2 + 2 12 = ( 1)2 + 2 22
which after simplifying gives the equation of a vertical line.
Radical axis theorem: For 3 non-concentric circles, the 3 radical axes for the 3 pairs of circle
will either all coincide at a common point, or be all parallel. This fact is easy to see: if 2 of
the radical axes intersect at a point , then power of point w.r.t. all 3 circles are the same
it lies on the third radical axis. The intersection point is called the radical centre.

Questions and examples

1. Let two circles 1 and 2 intersect at 2 distinct points and ,
and let be a line tangent to 1 at point and tangent to 2 at
. Prove that bisects .
2. Point is on a circle with center , and is a tangent to
the circle with = 6. is a point inside of the circle and
intersects the circle at with = = 3. Given that = 2, find the length of .
3. In triangle , the angle bisector of intersects at . The circumcircle of triangle
intersects again at , and the circumcircle of triangle intersects again at .
Prove that = .
4. Let 1 and 2 be two circles with the same radius intersecting each other at distinct
points and . Let be the midpoint of . Let and be two points on 1 and 2

respectively, and suppose that segment meets 2 at and segment meets 1 at .

Prove that , , are concurrent.
5. [Leningrad] Let be the orthocenter of acute triangle , and let and be points on
side and respectively. The circles with diameters and intersect at points
and . Prove that , , are collinear.

More problems

6. Let be a fixed point between two given rays and

. Let and be points on and respectively
such that lies on and is minimal. Prove
that = .

7. Let be a right angle triangle with = 90. Let be a point on line segment
such that 2 = , where is the foot of perpendicular from to . Prove that
1

tan tan = 2.
8. [USAJMO] In triangle , let and be points on segment and respectively
such that = . Let and be distinct points on segment such that = ,
and = . Prove that , , , are concyclic.
9. [IMO 1995] Let , , , be four distinct points on a line, in that order. The circles with
diameter and intersect at and . Let be a point on the line and not on .
Line intersects the circle with diameter again at point and line intersects the
circle with diameter again at . Prove that , , are concurrent.

Solutions
1. Let intersect line at . Since lies on which is the radical axis of the two circles,
power of point w.r.t. both circles are the same 2 = 2 = .
2. Extend to meet the circle again at . By power of a
point theorem on point , we have 2 =
= 12 = 6. Taking power of point from , we
also have = 2 2 3 6 = 2 22
= 22, where is the radius of the circle. Hence by
pythagoras theorem we have = 2 + 2 =
58.

3. By angle bisector theorem, we have = . By power

of a point theorem on points and , we see that

= and thus = .

4. Extend to meet 1 again at and extend

to meet 2 again at . Since the two circles

are of the same radius, it is clear that =

and = . Hence we have =

= = = .
By converse of power of a point theorem, we

see that is concyclic and let the circle

passing through those four points be 3 . Now

note that is the radical axis of 1 & 3, is

the radical axis of 2 & 3 , and is the radical

axis of 1 & 2, and by radical axis theorem the three lines must be concurrent.
5.

Let be the foot of perpendicular from point on to and the foot of perpendicular
from point on to . It is clear that lies on the circle with diameter since
= 90. Similarly, lies on the circle with diameter . Since = = 90,
we know that is concyclic and = . Hence we see that power of
point w.r.t. the circle with diameter is the same as power of point w.r.t. circle with
diameter , so lies on the radical axis of the two circles , , are collinear.
6.

We pick the points and such that = and claim that this gives the minimal
product . This is not difficult to prove: We draw the circle tangent to at and
tangent to at , then suppose 1 1 is some other line segment passing through . The
circle must then intersect the segment 1 1 at two points closer to and hence we see that
1 1 > = .
7.

Construct point on line extended such that = . From the condition given in the
question we know that = is concyclic. Hence = ,

and tan tan = tan tan = = = 2.

8. Let 1 be the circumcircle of and 2 be the circumcircle of . Since =
, by alternate segment theorem we know that is tangent to 1 at . Similarly,
is tangent to 2 at . Hence, the power of point from with respect to both circles is equal
since 2 = 2, and hence lies on the radical axis 1 and 2 . However, the two circles
intersect at and so must be the radical axis lies on , which is clearly not
possible. Hence we see that the only possible case is when the two circles 1 and 2
coincide , , , lie on the same circle.

9.

Let and intersect at . Since = = 90, we see that is concyclic.

Taking power of the point from we have = = , and so
is also concyclic. Hence, = = = 90 , and this implies
that and so line must coincide with . , , are
concurrent.