Concurrence

Geometry Level 3

In right triangle A B C , ABC, A B C = 9 0 , \angle{ABC}=90^\circ, B A C = 3 0 \angle{BAC}=30^\circ and D D is the midpoint of side A C . AC.

Does the intersection point of perpendicular bisectors of A C AC and B D BD lie on A B ? AB?

Yes No

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3 solutions

Add a point C C' symmetric to C C about A B AB to get an equilateral triangle A C C \triangle{ACC'} . B D BD is parallel to A C AC' , as it connects the midpoints of A C AC and C C CC' , and because A C C \triangle{ACC'} is equilateral, B D BD and A C AC' share a common perpendicular bisector - C D CD' . C D C'D is a perpendicular bisector of A C AC , so A B AB , C D C'D and C D CD' all intersect at E E - the centroid/incenter/circumcenter/orthocenter of A C C \triangle{ACC'} .

Patrick Corn
Aug 7, 2019

Drop a perpendicular to A C \overline{AC} from D . D. Say it intersects A B \overline{AB} at E . E. Since B C D BCD is equilateral, the perpendicular from C C bisects B D , \overline{BD}, so all that is required is to show that that perpendicular goes through E , E, i.e. to show that C E \overline{CE} is perpendicular to B D . \overline{BD}.

To see this, consider right triangles C D E CDE and C B E . CBE. These share a hypotenuse, C E , \overline{CE}, and have congruent legs C D \overline{CD} and C B . \overline{CB}. So they are congruent. Hence D C E = B C E = 1 2 A C B = 3 0 . \angle{DCE} = \angle{BCE} = \frac12 \angle{ACB} = 30^{\circ}. The fact that C E \overline{CE} bisects B C D \angle{BCD} shows that C E \overline{CE} is perpendicular to B D \overline{BD} : e.g. if C E \overline{CE} and B D \overline{BD} intersect at F , F, it's clear that C F B = 18 0 3 0 6 0 = 9 0 . \angle{CFB} = 180^\circ - 30^\circ - 60^\circ = 90^\circ.

Ron Gallagher
Aug 9, 2019

Choose a coordinate system with A at (0,0). Then, by properties of 30-60-90 triangles, the coordinates of the other points are D(Sqrt(3)/2, 1/2), C(Sqrt(3), 1), B(Sqrt(3), 0). If L1 is the perpendicular bisector of AC, we find L1 has slope of -Sqrt(3). Since it passes through D, it's equation is L1(x) = 1/2 - Sqrt(3)*(x-Sqrt(3) / 2). This intersects AB when it's y-coordinate is 0. Doing the algebra yields x = 2/Sqrt(3). Similarly, we can find an equation for L2, the perpendicular bisector of DB. Setting that equation equal to zero also yields x = 2/Sqrt(3), which is the same coordinate as the zero of L1. Therefore, they do meet on AB (at a distance of 2/Sqrt(3) units from A.

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