Angle Chasing — Junior

Thanom Shaw
March 31 & April 1, 2021

In this session we are going to chase angles. Start with an angle α, say, and chase it round the
diagram until you have lots of angles expressed in terms of α.
Some basic results used to chase angles include
• angles on parallel lines (alternate, corresponding, cointerior)
• vertically opposite angles
• angles in triangles (angle sum, exterior angle, base angles of isosceles triangles)
• tangent ⊥ radius at the point of contact

Diagrams for basic results in my geometry tookit

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Since every point on the circumference of a circle is the same distance to its centre, angle
chasing with points on a circle and our basic results expands the set of useful results to the
following.
• Angle at the centre of a circle is double the angle at the circumference (hence diameters
subtend right-angles at the circumference).
• Arcs subtend the same angle at the circumference (Bowtie theorem).
• Opposite angles are supplementary.
• Alternate segment theorem
Your warm up this morning is to show each of these results with an angle chase.
Note that in geometry, the converses of results can often be proven true using a reverse recon-
struction argument.
Indeed, it is the if and only if nature of these results that is at the heart of angle chasing!
More diagrams for basic results in my geometry tookit

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Some triangle definitions for reference

• The altitude of 4ABC at A is the line through A that is perpendicular to BC.

• The orthocentre of 4ABC is the intersection of its three altitudes.

• The circumcircle of 4ABC is the circle that passes through its three vertices.

• The circumcentre of 4ABC is the centre of its circumcircle and is the intersection of
the perpendicular bisectors of all three sides.

• The incircle of 4ABC is the circle inside 4ABC that is tangent to the three sides.

• The incentre of 4ABC is the centre of the incircle and is the intersection of the internal
angle bisectors of ∠A, ∠B and ∠C.

• The excircle of 4ABC opposite A is the circle outside 4ABC that is tangent to the
side BC and extensions of sides AB and AC.

• The A-excentre of 4ABC is the centre of the excircle opposite A and is the intersection
of the internal angle bisector of ∠A and two external angle bisectors of ∠B and ∠C.

• The median of 4ABC at A is the line through A and the midpoint of BC.

• The centroid of 4ABC is the intersection of the three medians.

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Problems
Of course, there are lots of classic problems in the set below. But don’t be so quick to skip over
things that seem familiar. Giving your brain the opportunity to see the same chases over and
over is what helps it see those same configurations in less familiar settings.

1. Two circles Γ1 and Γ2 intersect at A and B. The tangent to Γ1 at A meets Γ2 at P

and the tangent to Γ2 at A meets Γ1 at Q. The lines P Q meets Γ1 and Γ2 at H and K
respectively. Prove that 4AHK is isosceles.

2. Let two circles be internally tangent at a point A. Let BC be a chord of the larger circle,
tangent to the smaller circle at D. Prove that AD is an angle bisector of triangle ABC.

3. Triangle ABC is equilateral. BA is produced to a point Y . X is a point on the line

through A parallel to BC such that ∠CY X = 60◦ . Prove that 4CY X is equilateral.

4. Let two circles intersect in P and Q. A line through P meets the circles again at A and
B. The tangents at A and B intersect in C. Prove that AQBC is a cyclic quadrilateral.

5. Let AB be the diameter of a circle Γ. Let C and D be points on the tangent to Γ at B

such that B is between C and D. Let AC and AD intersect Γ again at P and Q. Show
that points C, P , Q, D are concyclic.

6. Let ABCD be a cyclic quadrilateral whose diagonals are perpendicular and intersect at
E. Let U , V , W , Z be the feet of the perpendiculars from E to AB, BC, CD, DA
respectively. Prove that U V W Z is cyclic.

7. Quadrilateral ACBD has an incircle K which is tangent to AB, BC, CD, DA at W , X,

Y , Z respectively. Show that ABCD is cyclic if and only if W Y is perpendicular to XZ.

8. ABCD is a cyclic quadrilateral with AB = CD. The diagonals AC and BD meet at X.

If O is the centre of the circle through ABCD, prove that ABXO is cyclic.

9. Let BCED be a cyclic quadrilateral and let EB and CD intersect at A. Let O be the
circumcentre of 4ABC. Prove that OA ⊥ DE.

10. In parallelogram ABCD, the diagonal AC is longer than the other diagonal BD. Let P
be a point on AC such that BCDP is a cyclic quadrilateral. Prove that BD is a common
tangent to the circumcircles of triangles ADP and ABP .

11. Let ABC be a triangle with circumcentre O. The points D, E, F lie on sides BC, CA, AB
respectively, such that DE is perpenedicular to CO and DF is perpendicular to BO. Let
K be the circumcentre of 4AF E. Prove that the lines DK and BC are perpendicular.

12. Let I by the incentre of 4ABC. Let D, E, F be the points of contact of the incircle
with sides BC, CA, AB respectively. Let X be the intersection of the line BI with the
line EF . Prove that BX ⊥ CX.

13. In 4ABC, points D and E lie on BC such that AD ⊥ BC and AE bisects ∠BAC. Point
M lies on AE such that BM ⊥ AE and N lies on AC such that EN ⊥ AC. Prove that
D, M , N are collinear.

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Several of the following angle chases form important results in their own right. Just like the
bowtie configuration is super useful for solving geometry problems (and you don’t need to
angle-chase a proof of the result every time you use it), many of these configurations are also
super useful to know. Take careful note and keep a look out for them when you are tackling
geometry problems.
14. Prove that the altitudes of 4ABC intersect at a common point (called the orthocentre).
15. Let ABC be an acute-angled triangle and let D, E, F be the feet of the altitudes from
A, B, C.
(a) Show that the orthocentre H of 4ABC is the incentre of 4DEF .
(b) Show that A is an excentre of 4DEF .
16. Let ABC be a triangle with circumcentre O and orthocentre H. Prove that ∠BAO =
∠HAC.
17. (Incentre-Excentre (Charles’) Lemma) Let ABC be a triangle with incentre I, A-excentre
IA , and let L be the midpoint of the arc BC. Show that L is the centre of a circle through
I, IA , B, C.
18. (Simson’s Line) Let X be a point on the circumcircle of ABC and let D, E, F be the
feet of the perpendiculars from X to BC, CA, AB respectively. Prove that D, E, F are
collinear.
19. Let H be the orthocentre of 4ABC.
(a) Prove that ∠BHC = ∠ABC + ∠ACB.
(b) Prove that the reflections of H in the sides AB, BC and CA lie on the circumcircle
of ABC.
(c) Prove that the circumcircle of 4ABH has the same radius as the circumcircle of
ABC.
20. Let H be the orthocentre of triangle ABC. Let AA0 be a diameter of the circumcircle of
ABC. Prove that A0 BHC is a parallelogram.
21. Let A be a point outside circle Γ. Let B and C be the points of contact of the tangents
from A to Γ.
(a) Prove that the incentre I of triangle ABC lies on Γ.
(b) Prove that the excentre IA of triangle ABC lies on Γ.
22. (Pivot Theorem / the Miquel Point) Let ABC be a triangle. Let D, E, F lie on BC,
CA, AB respectively.
(a) Prove that the circumcircles of AEF , BF D, CDE intersect at a common point
(Miquel Point).
(b) Prove that the Miquel Point lies on the circumcircle of ABC if and only if D, E, F
are collinear.
23. Consider a ‘complete quadrilateral’: four lines, no three of which are concurrent, and
their six points of intersection. Show that the circumcircles of the four triangles in this
diagram intersect at a common point (Miquel Point).
Can you see the equivalence between this question and the final part of the previous
question?