GENERALIZATION OF A PROBLEM WITH ISOGONAL

CONJUGATE POINTS

TRAN QUANG HUNG AND PHAM HUY HOANG

Abstract. In this note we give a generalization of the problem that was used
in the All-Russian Mathematical Olympiad and a purely sythetic proofs.

The following problem was proposed by Andrey Badzyan on All-Russian Math-

ematical Olympiad (2004–2005, District round, Grade 9, Problem 4).
Problem 1. Let ABC be a triangle with circumcircle (O) and incircle (I). M is
the midpoint of AC, N is the midpoint of the arc AC which contains B. Prove
that ∠IM A = ∠IN B.
N
B

I
O

A M C

E
Fig. 1.
Official solution by the Committee. Denote by E be the midpoint of the arc AC
which does not contain B. It is clear that B, I, E are collinear, since the line
formed by these points is the angle bisector of ∠ABC.
Additionally, N , O, M , E are also collinear, since these points all belong to
the perpendicular bisector of AC and it is well-known that AE = EC = IE.
Since ∠N AE = ∠AM E = 90◦ it is easy to see that 4AM E ∼ 4N AE which
implies that |M E| · |N E| = |AE|2 = |EI|2 . Hence, we have 4EIM ∼ 4EN I
from which we get ∠IM E = ∠EIN .
Note the following
90◦ + ∠IM A = ∠AM E + ∠IM A = ∠IM E = ∠EIN =
= ∠IN B + ∠IBN = ∠IN B + 90◦ .
39
40 TRAN QUANG HUNG AND PHAM HUY HOANG

We get the required equality

∠IM A = ∠IN B.


Darij Grinberg in [1] gave a solution using the idea of excircle construction while
another member named mecrazywong on the same forum suggested a different
solution by making use of similarity and angle chasing. Now we give a generalized
problem.
Problem 2. Let ABC be a triangle with circumcircle (O). Suppose P , Q are
two points lying in the triangle such that P is the isogonal conjugate of Q with
respect to 4ABC. Denote by D the point of intersection of AP and (O) in which
D 6= A. OD consecutively cuts BC at M and again cuts (O) at N . Prove that
∠P M B = ∠QN A.
If points P and Q are coincide with the incenter I, Problem 2 is coincide with
problem 1.
A N

P O

B M C

D D0
Fig. 2.

Proof. Denote the intersection of AQ and (O) by D0 . Since ∠DAB = ∠D0 AC

we have that BCD0 D is an isosceles trapezoid.
We have,
• ∠P DB = ∠BD0 Q
• ∠BP D = ∠BAP + ∠P BA = ∠CBD0 + ∠QBC = ∠QBD0 .
So 4P BD ∼ 4BQD0 and it is easy to conclude that
|P D| |BD|
(1) 0
= ⇒ |P D| · |QD0 | = |BD| · |BD0 |.
|BD | |QD0 |
On the other hand,
_ _
• ∠M BD = ∠BN D0 (since ∠M BD = 12 m CD= 12 m BD0 = ∠BN D0 )
• ∠BDM = ∠BD0 N
 GENERALIZATION OF A PROBLEM WITH ISOGONAL CONJUGATE POINTS 41

so 4BM D ∼ 4N BD0 . Hence

(2) |BD| · |BD0 | = |M D| · |N D0 |.

|P D| |QD0 |
From (1) and (2) it is follows that |P Q|·|QD|0
= or |M D|·|N D0 |,
= .
|M D| |N D0 |
Since ∠P DM = ∠QD0 N we get 4P DM ∼ 4N D0 Q, thus ∠P M D = ∠N QD0 .
Also, from 4BM D ∼ 4N BD0 we get ∠BM D = ∠N BD0 = ∠N AD0 .
Hence

∠P M D − ∠BM D = ∠N QD0 − ∠N AD0 ⇒ ∠P M B = ∠QN A.

The proof is completed. 

From the above general problem, we get some corollaries

Corollary 1. Let ABC be a triangle with bisector AD. Let M be the midpoint
of BC. Suppose P and Q are two points on the segment AD such that ∠ABP =
∠CBQ, then the circumcenter of the triangle P QM lies on a fixed line when P ,
Q vary.
N
A

Q
Q
Q
O

B H M C

Fig. 3.

Proof. Let H the a point on BC such that P H ⊥ BC. Denote by N the midpoint
of the arc BC which contains A. It is easy to see that P , Q are two isogonal
conjugate points with repsect to triangle ABC. From our generalized problem,
we have ∠QN A = ∠P M B which yields ∠AQN = ∠HP M = ∠P M N (note
that ∠N AD = 90◦ ), thus QP M N is a concyclic quadrilateral. Therefore the
circumcenter of triangle P QM lies on the perpendicular bisector of M N , which
is a fixed line. We are done. 

Corollary 2. From the generalized problem it is follows that ∠P M N = ∠AQN ,

thus if we denote the intersection of P M and AQ by T , then Q, M , N , T are
concyclic. Moreover, P M k AQ if and only if Q ∈ OM .
42 TRAN QUANG HUNG AND PHAM HUY HOANG

A N

P O
M
M
M
B C
T

D D0
Fig. 4.
Proof. We have ∠N M T = ∠N M C + ∠CM T = ∠M N B + ∠N BM + ∠P M B =
∠D0 AC + ∠N AC + ∠QN A = ∠QAN + ∠QN A = ∠D0 QN . Hence Q, M , N , T
are concyclic.
Therefore
P M k AQ ⇐⇒ (P M, AQ) = 0 ⇐⇒ (N Q, N D) = 0 ⇐⇒ N Q ≡ N D.
We are done.

Hence from the above corollary, we can make a new problem.
Problem 3. Let ABC be a triangle with circumcircle (O). Let d be a line which
passes through O and intersects BC at M . Suppose Q is a point on d and P is
the isogonal conjugate of Q. Prove that AP and d intersect at a point lying on
(O) if and only if P M k AQ.
The proof directly follows from Corollary 2.

References
[1] Incenter, circumcircle and equal angles, All-Russian MO Round 4, 2005.
http://www.artofproblemsolving.com/Forum/viewtopic.php?t=32163.

Tran Quang Hung, Faculty of Mathematics, High school for gifted students at
Science, Hanoi University of Science, Hanoi National University, Hanoi, Vietnam.
E-mail address: [email protected]

Pham Huy Hoang, 11A1 Mathematics, High school for gifted students at Science,
Hanoi University of Science, Hanoi National University, Hanoi, Vietnam.
E-mail address: [email protected]