Angle Chasing

Leon Zhou
‘Always start with angle chasing. When in doubt, add another
pronumeral.’ - Sun Tzu, the art of war

1 How to angle chase

There are generally two socially (and politically) accepted ways to angle chase.
One is quicker than the other. One has so much more versatility that it out-
weighs the other’s benefits.

1.1 First way

Label your angles with an arc. Keep on doing this until you cannot angle chase
any more. To label another angle, just add two arcs instead of one, and so on.

1.2 Second way

Label your angles with pronumerals. Start with α, and continue your way down
the Greek alphabet for more angles. Shows the relationship between angles by
adding in numbers.

Way 1. Way 2.

So which way is better? Way 2 is. Only do Way 1 if your angle chase is
short. Otherwise, always stick to Way 2.

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2 What to angle chase
Fun fact: In angle chasing, we chase angles. Anyways, there are many important
things to look for.
• Similar and congruent triangles
• Icosceles triangles
• Cyclic quadrilaterals (Very important, especially with bowtie, alternate
segment, etc.)
• Circles (Look out for cyclic quadrilaterals!)
• Parallel lines
• Tangents
• Triangle angle sum
• Opposite angles
Remember to also fill in their complementary and supplementary angles (such
as for lines or perpendiculars).

3 The class live-solves the following problem

[3am quick thinking] Let Γ1 and Γ2 be two circles that intersect at points P
and X. Let l, m be two lines that pass through X. Let l intersect Γ1 at A and
Γ2 at B. Let m intersect Γ1 at C and Γ2 at D. Prove that △P AB and △P CD
are similar.

4 The class live-solves another problem with hints

[2021 Thailand Mathematical Olympiad] Let △ABC be an isosceles triangle
such that AB = AC. Let ω be a circle centered at A with a radius strictly less
than AB. Draw a tangent from B to ω at P , and draw a tangent from C to ω
at Q. Suppose that the line P Q intersects the line BC at point M . Prove that
M is the midpoint of BC.

5 The mentors and the class live-solves this*

[1977 IMO] In the interior of a square ABCD we construct the equilateral tri-
angles ABK, BCL, CDM, DAN. Prove that the midpoints of the four segments
KL, LM, M N, N K and the midpoints of the eight segments AK, BK, BL, CL, CM, DM, DN, AN
are the 12 vertices of a regular dodecagon.

*Mentors can choose if they want if they want to live solve or not