Angle-Chasing

Warm-Up Problems/Useful Properties.

(1) Let ABC be a triangle. Consider two points B 0 and C 0 on AB and AC, respectively.
Show that BC and B 0 C 0 are parallel if and only if the circumcircles of ABC and
AB 0 C 0 are tangent to each other. (Two circles are tangent to each other at A if
they have a common tangent at A.)

(2) Consider two circles interiorly tangent at a point A. Let BC be a chord of the larger
circle which is tangent to the smaller circle at a point D. Prove that AD is the angle
bisector of angle BAC.
\

(3) In a circle Γ consider three chords AA0 , BB 0 and CC 0 which intersect at a point I.
a) Prove that I is the incentre of 4ABC if and only if it is the orthocentre of
4A0 B 0 C 0 .
b) If I is the incentre of 4ABC then A0 is the circumcentre of 4IBC, and B 0 is
the circumcentre of 4IAC, etc.

(4) (Miquel’s theorem) Let ABC be a triangle. Points X, Y , and Z lie on sides BC, CA,
and AB, respectively. Prove that the circumcircles of triangles AY Z, BXZ, CXY
meet at a common point.

(5) (Miquel’s point) Let a, b, c, d be four lines in space, no two parallel, no three con-
current. We say that such four lines form a complete quadrilateral. Let Γa denote
the circumcircle of the triangle formed by lines b, c, d. Similarly define Γb , Γc , Γd .
a) Prove that Γa , Γb , Γc , Γd . pass through a common point. This is called the
Miquel point.
b) Continuing the above notation, prove that the centers of Γa , Γb , Γc , Γd , and the
Miquel point all lie on a common circle.

(6) ∗ All the Miquel points for the complete quadrilaterals found in a pentagonal star
are on a circle.

(7) (Simson’s line) Let ABC be a triangle, and let P be another point on its circumcircle.
Let X, Y, Z be the feet of perpendiculars from P to lines BC, CA, AB respectively.
Prove that X, Y, Z are collinear.

(8) ∗ Consider a triangle ABC and a point P on its circumcircle Γ. Let A2 denote the
symmetric point of P with respect to line BC. Define B2 and C2 similarly. Prove
that A2 , B2 , C2 and the orthocentre H of 4ABC are all collinear.

(9) Let BCED be a cyclic quadrilateral whose diagonals EB and CD intersect at a

point A. Let O be the circumcentre of 4ABC. Prove that OA ⊥ DE.

(10) Let H be the orthocentre and O the circumcentre of 4ABC.

a) Prove that the line AO is the symmetric of AH through the angle bisector of
the angle at A. Similarly for the other vertices of the triangle. We say that O
is the isogonal point of H.
b) Prove that A1 , the symmetric point of H with respect to the side BC lies on
the circumcentre of 4ABC.

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c) Construct B1 , C1 similarly to point A1 above. Prove that H is the incentre of

A1 and calculate the angles of 4A1 B1 C1 in terms of those of 4ABC.

(11) Right Angles on Intouch Chord. Let ABC be a triangle whose incircle touches
the sides BC, CA, AB at D, E, F respectively. The angle bisectors of hB and hC
meet line EF at points X and Y . Prove that X and Y lie on the circle with
diameter BC.

(12) Spiral Similarity

a) Let AB and CD be two segments, and let lines AC and BD meet at X. Let the
circumcircles of ABX and CDX meet again at O. Prove that triangles OAB
and OCD are similar, and so are triangles OAC and OBD.
b) Reciprocally, if two triangles OAB and OCD are similar, such that OAB\ =
OCD
\ as directed angles (i.e. both are read clockwise, or both counterclockwise)
then the intersection of the lines AC and BD is also on the circumcircles of
triangles ABO and CDO.

(13) Symmedian. Let T be the intersection point of the two tangent lines to the
circumcentre of 4ABC at B and C respectively. The circle of centre T and radius
T B intersects the lines AB and AC for the second time at B 0 and C 0 respectively.
Prove that B 0 , T, C 0 are collinear. Hence also prove that AT is the reflection of the
median AM through the angle bisector at A.

Olympiad Problems

(1) EGMO2012Q1 Let ABC be a triangle with circumcentre O. The points D, E, F lie
in the interiors of the sides BC, CA, AB respectively, such that DE is perpendicular
to CO and DF is perpendicular to BO. (By interior we mean, for example, that the
point D lies on the line BC and D is between B and C on that line.) Let K be the
circumcentre of triangle AF E. Prove that the lines DK and BC are perpendicular.

(2) Let ABC be an acute-angled triangle with circumcircle Γ and orthocentre H. Let
P be a point of Γ on the other side of BC from A. Let C2 be the reflection of P in
the line AB, and let A2 be the reflection of M in the line BC. Let T be the second
point of intersection of Γ with the circumcircle of triangle BA2 C2 .
a) (EGMO2012Q7) Show that the lines P H, T A2 and BC are concurrent.
b) C2 T intersects the circumcircle Γ for the second time at C1 . Prove that C1 is
the symmetric of H with respect to AB.

(3) Let ABC be a triangle with circumcircle Γ. Let l be a line in the plane, and let
la , lb , lc be the lines obtained by reflecting l in the lines BC, CA, and AB, respec-
tively. Let 4A0 B 0 C 0 denote the triangle determined by the lines la , lb , lc .
a) (Iran 1995) Prove that the incenter of the 4A0 B 0 C 0 lies on Γ.
b) (IMO 2011Q6) Assume l is tangent to Γ. Show that the circumcircle of
4A0 B 0 C 0 is tangent to the circle Γ. (Hint: The two circles are tangent at the
point T constructed in the previous problem!)
Note: (a) and (b) are meant as independent problems.
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(4) IMO2000Q1 Two circles G1 and G2 intersect at two points M and N . Let AB be
the line tangent to these circles at A and B, respectively, so that M lies closer to
AB than N . Let CD be the line parallel to AB and passing through the point M ,
with C on G1 and D on G2 . Lines AC and BD meet at E; lines AN and CD meet
at P ; lines BN and CD meet at Q. Show that EP = EQ.

(5) IMO2016Q1. Triangle BCF has a right angle at B. Let A be the point on line
CF such that F A = F B and F lies between A and C. Point D is chosen so that
DA = DC and AC is the bisector of ∠DAB. Point E is chosen so that EA = ED
and AD is the bisector of ∠EAC. Let M be the midpoint of CF . Let X be the point
such that AM XE is a parallelogram. Prove that BD, F X and M E are concurrent.

Anca Mustata, School of Mathematical Sciences, UCC

E-mail address: a.mustata@ucc.ie