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Baltic Way 2010 · Problem 13

Geometry

In an acute triangle ABCA B C, the segment CDC D is an altitude and HH is the orthocentre. Given that the circumcentre of the triangle lies on the line containing the bisector of the angle DHBD H B, determine all possible values of ∠CAB\angle C A B.

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Topics

Angles and distances · Triangles and centers

Solutions

Solution

The value is ∠CAB=60∘\angle CAB = 60^\circ. Denote by ℓ\ell the line containing the angle bisector of DHBDHB, and let EE be the point where the ray CD→CD \to intersects the circumcircle of the triangle ABCABC again. The rays HD→HD \to and HB→HB \to are symmetric with respect to ℓ\ell by the definition of ℓ\ell. On the other hand, if the circumcenter of ABCABC lies on ℓ\ell, then the circumcircle is symmetric with respect to ℓ\ell. It follows that the intersections of the rays HD→HD \to and HB→HB \to with the circle, which are EE and BB, are symmetric with respect to ℓ\ell. Moreover, since H∈ℓH \in \ell, we conclude that HE=HBHE = HB. However, as EE lies on the circumcircle of ABCABC, we have

∠ABE=∠ACE=90∘−∠CAB=∠HBA.\angle ABE = \angle ACE = 90^\circ - \angle CAB = \angle HBA.

This proves that the points HH and EE are symmetric with respect to the line ABAB. Thus HB=EBHB = EB and the triangle BHEBHE is equilateral. Finally, ∠CAB=∠CEB=60∘\angle CAB = \angle CEB = 60^\circ.

Contest context

Results from Baltic Way 2010

10 teams

Mean score
2.0 / 5
Scores of 4 or 5
4 / 10
Estonia
0 / 5

Score distribution

06
10
20
30
40
54
All team scores
TeamScore
Poland5 / 5
Lithuania5 / 5
Germany5 / 5
Latvia0 / 5
Denmark0 / 5
Sweden0 / 5
Estonia0 / 5
Norway0 / 5
Finland0 / 5
Iceland5 / 5