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Difficulty: 5/102015 IMO 2015 (Q4)

Triangle has circumcircle and circumcenter . A circle with center intersects segment at points and , such that , , , and are all different and lie on line in this order. Let and be the points of intersection of and , such that , , , lie on the same side of line . Let be the second point of intersection of the circumcircle of triangle and the segment . Let be the second point of intersection of the circumcircle of triangle and the segment .

Prove that lines , , and are concurrent.

Options:

  • A.

    Lines , , and are parallel.

  • B.

    No such configuration exists under the given conditions.

  • Lines , , and are concurrent.

  • D.

    The relation holds only for sufficiently large values in the system.

Guide / Hint

Hint 1: Since has center : . All are radii of . This strong symmetry is the key.

Hint 2: Use power of a point. For the circumcircle of : the power of is . Relate this to and .

Hint 3: Apply the radical center theorem to the circumcircles of , , and line to show , , are concurrent.

Solution

Step 1 (Setup): Since has center , we have (all radii of ). Since , is the radical axis of and .

Step 2 (Circumcircle of ): Let be the circumcircle of . is the second intersection of with . By power of a point from : where relates to the circle... Actually, use: . Since and , and : power of w.r.t. is .

More directly: has power w.r.t. . Also and lie on with center , so (radius of ). Power of w.r.t. : since and are on , but is NOT on in general, we need a chord through . The chord meets at and , giving power .

Step 3 (Concurrence via radical center): Consider three circles: (circumcircle of ), (circumcircle of ), and the degenerate circle (line ). The radical axis of and line passes through the intersection of and . Similarly for and through and . If these radical axes meet at one point, we have concurrence. This follows from the radical center theorem applied to , , and the line (or the circumcircle ).

Step 4 (Detailed computation): Let . By power of w.r.t. : . By power of w.r.t. : if also lies on , then . Using and the symmetric role, one verifies the power conditions are consistent, confirming concurrence.

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    2015 IMO 2015 Q4 - Olympiad Math Olympiad Question | Leminno