c 2007 The Author(s) and The IMO Compendium Group

Inversion
Du san Djuki c

Contents
1 2 3 General Properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Solutions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 2 3

General Properties

Inversion is a map of a plane or space without a xed point O onto itself, determined by a circle k with center O and radius r, which takes point A = O to the point A = (A) on the ray OA such that OA OA = r2 . From now on, unless noted otherwise, X always denotes the image of object X under a considered inversion. Clearly, map is continuous and inverse to itself, and maps the interior and exterior of k to each other, which is why it is called inversion. The next thing we observe is that P OQ QOP for all point P, Q = O (for P OQ = QOP and OP /OQ = (r2 /OP )/(r2 /OQ) = OQ/OP ), 2 with the ratio of similitude OPrOQ . As a consequence, we have OQ P = OP Q and P Q = r2 P Q. OP OQ

What makes inversion attractive is the fact that it maps lines and circles into lines and circles. A line through O (O excluded) obviously maps to itself. What if a line p does not contain O? Let P be the projection of O on p and Q p an arbitrary point of p. Angle OP Q = OQ P is right, so Q lies on circle k with diameter OP . Therefore (p) = k and consequently (k ) = p. Finally, what is the image of a circle k not passing through O? We claim that it is also a circle; to show this, we shall prove that inversion takes any four concyclic points A, B, C, D to four concyclic points A , B , C , D . The following angles are regarded as oriented. Let us show that A C B = A D B . We have A C B = OC B OC A = OBC OAC and analogously A D B = OBD OAD, which implies A D B A C B = CBD CAD = 0, as we claimed. To sum up: A line through O maps to itself. A circle through O maps to a line not containing O and vice-versa. A circle not passing through O maps to a circle not passing through O (not necessarily the same). Remark. Based on what we have seen, it can be noted that inversion preserves angles between curves, in particular circles or lines. Maps having this property are called conformal. When should inversion be used? As always, the answer comes with experience and cannot be put on a paper. Roughly speaking, inversion is useful in destroying inconvenient circles and angles on a picture. Thus, some pictures cry to be inverted:

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There are many circles and lines through the same point A. Invert through A.

Problem 1 (IMO 2003, shortlist). Let 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 be distinct circles such that 1 , 3 are externally tangent at P , and 2 , 4 are externally tangent at the same point P . Suppose that 1 and 2 ; 2 and 3 ; 3 and 4 ; 4 and 1 meet at A, B, C, D, respectively, and that all these points are different from P . Prove that AB BC P B2 . = AD DC P D2 Solution. Apply the inversion with center at P and radius r; let X denote the image of X . The circles 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 are transformed into lines 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , where 1 3 and 2 4 , and r2 r2 , etc. The AB , P B = therefore AB C D is a parallelogram. Further, we have AB = PA PB PB equality to be proven becomes P D2 P D2 AB B C = , P B 2 AD DC P B2 which holds because AB = C D and B C = DA. There are many angles AXB with xed A, B . Invert through A or B . Problem 2 (IMO 1996, problem 2). Let P be a point inside ABC such that AP B C = AP C B . Let D, E be the incenters of AP B, AP C respectively. Show that AP , BD, and CE meet in a point. Solution. Apply an inversion with center at A and radius r. Then the given condition becomes 2 B C P = C B P , i.e., B P = P C . But P B = APrAB P B , so AC/AB = P C/P B . Caution: Inversion may also bring new inconvenient circles and angles. Of course, keep in mind that not all circles and angles are inconvenient.

Problems
1. Circles k1 , k2 , k3 , k4 are such that k2 and k4 each touch k1 and k3 . Show that the tangency points are collinear or concyclic. 2. Prove that for any points A, B, C, D, AB CD + BC DA AC BD, and that equality holds if and only if A, B, C, D are on a circle or a line in this order. (Ptolemys inequality) 3. Let be the semicircle with diameter P Q. A circle k is tangent internally to and to segment P Q at C . Let AB be the tangent to k perpendicular to P Q, with A on and B on segment CQ. Show that AC bisects the angle P AB . 4. Points A, B, C are given on a line in this order. Semicircles , 1 , 2 are drawn on AC, AB , BC respectively as diameters on the same side of the line. A sequence of circles (kn ) is constructed as follows: k0 is the circle determined by 2 and kn is tangent to , 1 , kn1 for n 1. Prove that the distance from the center of kn to AB is 2n times the radius of kn . 5. A circle with center O passes through points A and C and intersects the sides AB and BC of the triangle ABC at points K and N , respectively. The circumscribed circles of the triangles ABC and KBN intersect at two distinct points B and M . Prove that OM B = 90 . (IMO 1985-5.) 6. Let p be the semiperimeter of a triangle ABC . Points E and F are taken on line AB such that CE = CF = p. Prove that the circumcircle of EF C is tangent to the excircle of ABC corresponding to AB .

Du san Djuki c: Inversion

7. Prove that the nine-point circle of triangle ABC is tangent to the incircle and all three excircles. (Feuerbachs theorem) 8. The incircle of a triangle ABC is tangent to BC, CA, AB at M, N and P , respectively. Show that the circumcenter and incenter of ABC and the orthocenter of M N P are collinear. 9. Points A, B, C are given in this order on a line. Semicircles k and l are drawn on diameters AB and BC respectively, on the same side of the line. A circle t is tangent to k , to l at point T = C , and to the perpendicular n to AB through C . Prove that AT is tangent to l. 10. Let A1 A2 A3 be a nonisosceles triangle with incenter I . Let Ci , i = 1, 2, 3, be the smaller circle through I tangent to Ai Ai+1 and Ai Ai+2 (the addition of indices being mod 3). Let Bi , i = 1, 2, 3, be the second point of intersection of Ci+1 and Ci+2 . Prove that the circumcenters of the triangles A1 B1 I, A2 B2 I, A3 B3 I are collinear. (IMO 1997 Shortlist) 11. If seven vertices of a hexahedron lie on a sphere, then so does the eighth vertex. 12. A sphere with center on the plane of the face ABC of a tetrahedron SABC passes through A, B and C , and meets the edges SA, SB, SC again at A1 , B1 , C1 , respectively. The planes through A1 , B1 , C1 tangent to the sphere meet at a point O. Prove that O is the circumcenter of the tetrahedron SA1 B1 C1 . 13. Let KL and KN be the tangents from a point K to a circle k . Point M is arbitrarily taken on the extension of KN past N , and P is the second intersection point of k with the circumcircle of triangle KLM . The point Q is the foot of the perpendicular from N to M L. Prove that M P Q = 2KM L. 14. The incircle of the acute-angled triangle ABC is tangent to BC at K . Let AD be an altitude of triangle ABC and let M be the midpoint of AD. If N is the other common point of and KM , prove that and the circumcircle of triangle BCN are tangent at N . (IMO 2002 Shortlist)

Solutions
1. Let k1 and k2 , k2 and k3 , k3 and k4 , k4 and k1 touch at A, B, C, D, respectively. An inversion , and k3 and k4 to circles k3 and and k2 with center A maps k1 and k2 to parallel lines k1 k4 tangent to each other at C and tangent to k2 at B and to k4 at D . It is easy to see that B , C , D are collinear. Therefore B, C, D lie on a circle through A. 2. Applying the inversion with center A and radius r gives AB = etc. The required inequality reduces to C D + B C B D .
r2 AB ,

CD =

r2 AC AD C D ,

3. Invert through C . Semicircle maps to the semicircle with diameter P Q , circle k to the tangent to parallel to P Q , and line AB to a circle l centered on P Q which touches k (so it is congruent to the circle determined by ). Circle l intersects and P Q in A and B respectively. Hence P A B is an isosceles triangle with P AC = A P C = A B C = BAC . 4. Under the inversion with center A and squared radius AB AC points B and C exchange positions, and 1 are transformed to the lines perpendicular to BC at C and B , and the sequence (kn ) to the sequence of circles (kn ) inscribed in the region between the two lines. Obviously, the distance from the center of kn to AB is 2n times its radius. Since circle kn is homothetic to kn with respect to A, the statement immediately follows.

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5. Invert through B . Points A , C , M are collinear and so are K , N , M , whereas A , C , N , K are on a circle. What does the center O of circle ACN K map to? Inversion does not preserve centers. Let B1 and B2 be the feet of the tangents from B to circle ACN K . Their images B1 and B2 are the feet of the tangents from B to circle A C N K , and since O lies on the circle BB1 B2 , its image O lies on the line B1 B2 - more precisely, it is at the midpoint of B1 B2 . We observe that M is on the polar of point B with respect to circle A C N K , which is nothing but the line B1 B2 . It follows that OBM = BO M = BO B1 = 90 . 6. The inversion with center C and radius p maps points E and F and the excircle to themselves, and the circumcircle of CEF to line AB which is tangent to the excircle. The statement follows from the fact that inversion preserves tangency. 7. We shall show that the nine-point circle touches the incircle k and the excircle ka across A. Let A1 , B1 , C1 be the midpoints of BC, CA, AB , and P, Q the points of tangency of k and ka with BC , respectively. Recall that A1 P = A1 Q; this implies that the inversion with center A1 and radius A1 P takes k and ka to themselves. This inversion also takes to a line. It is not difcult to prove that this line is symmetric to BC with respect to the angle bisector of BAC , so it also touches k and ka . 8. The incenter of ABC and the orthocenter of M N P lie on the Euler line of ABC . The inversion with respect to the incircle of ABC maps points A, B, C to the midpoints of N P, P M, M N , so the circumcircle of ABC maps to the nine-point circle of M N P which is also centered on the Euler line of M N P . It follows that the center of circle ABC lies on the same line. 9. An inversion with center T maps circles t and l to parallel lines t and l , circle k and line n to circles k and n tangent to t and l (where T n ), and line AB to circle a perpendicular to l (because an inversion preserves angles) and passes through B , C l ; thus a is the circle with diameter B C . Circles k and n are congruent and tangent to l at B and C , and intersect a at A and T respectively. It follows that A and T are symmetric with respect to the perpendicular bisector of B C and hence A T l , so AT is tangent to l. 10. The centers of three circles passing through the same point I and not touching each other are collinear if and only if they have another common point. Hence it is enough to show that the circles Ai Bi I have a common point other than I . Now apply inversion at center I and with an arbitrary power. We shall denote by X the image of X under this inversion. In our case, the image of the circle Ci is the line Bi +1 Bi+2 while the image of the line Ai+1 Ai+2 is the circle IA A that is tangent to B B , and Bi Bi+2 . These three circles have equal radii, so i+1 i+2 i i+2 B2 B3 . Consequently, points their centers P1 , P2 , P3 form a triangle also homothetic to B1 A , A , A , that are the reections of I across the sides of P P 1 2 P3 , are vertices of a triangle 1 2 3 B , A , A B B2 B3 . It follows that A also homothetic to B1 3 B3 are concurrent at some point 2 2 1 1 J , i.e., that the circles Ai Bi I all pass through J . 11. Let AY BZ, AZCX, AXDY, W CXD, W DY B, W BZC be the faces of the hexahedron, where A is the eighth vertex. Apply an inversion with center W . Points B , C , D , X , Y , Z lie on some plane , and moreover, C , X , D ; D , Y , B ; and B , Z , C are collinear in these orders. Since A is the intersection of the planes Y BZ, ZCX, XDY , point A is the second intersection point of the spheres W Y B Z , W Z C X , W X D Y . Since the circles Y B Z , Z C X , X D Y themselves meet at a point on plane , this point must coincide with A . Thus A and the statement follows. 12. Apply the inversion with center S and squared radius SA SA1 = SB SB1 = SC SC1 . Points A and A1 , B and B1 , and C and C1 map to each other, the sphere through A, B, C, A1 , B1 , C1 maps to itself, and the tangent planes at A1 , B1 , C1 go to the spheres through S and A, S and B , S and C which touch the sphere ABCA1 B1 C1 . These three

Du san Djuki c: Inversion

spheres are perpendicular to the plane ABC , so their centers lie on the plane ABC ; hence they all pass through the point S symmetric to S with respect to plane ABC . Therefore S is the image of O. Now since SA1 O = SSA = SSA = OSA1 , we have OS = OA1 and analogously OS = OB1 = OC1 . 13. Apply the inversion with center M . Line M N is tangent to circle k with center O , and a circle through M is tangent to k at L and meets M N again at K . The line K L intersects k at P , and N O intersects M L at Q . The task is to show that M Q P = L Q P = 2 K M L . Let the common tangent at L intersect M N at Y . Since the peripheral angles on the chords K L and L P are equal (to K L Y ), we have L O P = 2L N P = 2K M L . It only remains to show that L , P , O , Q are on a circle. This follows from the equality O Q L = 90 L M K = 90 L N P = O P L (the angles are regarded as oriented). 14. Let k be the circle through B, C that is tangent to the circle at point N . We must prove that K, M, N are collinear. Since the statement is trivial for AB = AC , we may assume that AC > AB . As usual, R, r, , , denote the circumradius and the inradius and the angles of ABC , respectively. 1 We have tan BKM = DM/DK . Straightforward calculation gives DM = AD = 2 KC KB DC DB = R sin( ) R(sin sin ) = R sin sin and DK = 2 2 sin sin , so we obtain 4R sin 2 2 2 cos sin sin 2 cos 2 = . tan BKM = 4 sin sin 2 sin 2 sin 2 2 To calculate the angle BKN , we apply the inversion with center at K and power BK CK . For each object X , we denote by X its image under . The incircle maps to a line parallel to B C , at distance
A N B K C k B N k UK C

BK CK from B C . Thus the point N is the projection of 2r the midpoint U of B C onto . Hence tan BKN = tan BK N = Again, one easily checks that KB KC = bc sin2 implies tan BKN = = bc sin2 2 r(b c) 4R2 sin sin sin2
2 4R sin 2 sin 2 sin 2 2R(sin sin )

UN UK
2

BK CK . r(CK BK ) sin sin , which 2 2 2

and r = 4R sin

cos 2 cos 2 sin 2

Hence BKM = BKN , which implies that K, M, N are indeed collinear; thus N N .