April 10, 2016

Michael Sun

Angle Chasing
Angle chasing is an extremely important skill. Here is a warm-up:
Triangles ABC and ADC are isosceles with AB = BC and AD = DC. Point D is inside
4ABC, 6 ABC = 40 , and 6 ADC = 140 . What is the degree measure of 6 BAD?
Source: AMC 12, 2007
Solution:
B

ABC = 40 implies that 6 BAC = 6 BCA = 70. 6 ADC = 140 implies that 6 DAC =
6 DCA = 20. So 6 BAD = 70 20 = 50 .
Hopefully these types of problems are pretty natural. In general, isosceles and equilateral
triangles are great for angle chasing. Next, you should be familiar with the following from
geometry:
6

Prove that 6 ABC = 21 6 AOC.

Proof:
As hinted above, isosceles triangles are great for angle chasing. Note that triangles AOB
and COB are both isosceles. 6 ABC = 6 ABO+6 OBC = 12 (1806 AOB)+ 12 (1806 COB) =
180 12 (360 6 AOC) = 21 6 AOC. Note that to make the proof rigorous, we also need to
1

consider the cases of the angle being acute, right, and obtuse, separately, which essentially
uses the same idea.
Whats great about this is that if you imagine sliding B along arc AC, 6 ABC will be
constant.
C
A

E
B

Here, well prove that 6 CEB = 6 AED is equal to the average of arcs BC and AD. Proof:
_
6 AED = 6 CAB+6 ACD by the exterior angle theorem. And 6 CAB+6 ACD = 1 (6.0ptAD+
2
_
6.0ptBC).
Here is another nice theorem:
A
C
E

B
D

Prove that 6 CEB = 21 (6.0ptAD 6.0ptBC). Proof:

A
C
E

B
D

Draw in the diagonals of the quadrilateral and note that 6 CED + 6 CDE = 6 ACD by the
_
_
exterior angle theorem. So 6 CDE = 6 ACD 6 CDE = 12 (6.0ptAD 6.0ptBC).
You may notice that in the above diagrams, the quadrilaterals are both cyclic (inscribed
in a circle). Because of this, we can derive some neat properties from these types of quadrilaterals.
A

C
B

Notice that
6
6
6
6

ABD
DBC
BDC
ADB

=6
=6
=6
=6

ACD,
DAC,
BAC,
ACB.

This goes back to the inscribed angle theorem, the first one we proved.
The other important property is that 6 ABC = 180 6 ADC, and 6 DCB = 180 6 DAB.
Note that 6 ABC + 6 ADC = 12 (6.0pt
ADC + 6.0pt
ABC) = 180
and the result follows.

24.88pt _
3

24.88pt _

So any cyclic quadrilateral will have these properties. We make also make a rigorous proof
in the opposite direction, specifically, that any quadrilateral with one of these properties is
in fact cyclic, which I wont do here for the purpose of time.
Note that cyclic quadrilaterals should be your go-to move whenever youre dealing with
angles that involves quadrilaterals. Whenever direct angle chasing becomes futile, you should
look in finding cyclic quadrilaterals to assist you. And when you suspect a quadrilateral may
be cyclic, use any of the above properties to prove that its cyclic (never take it for granted).
Another extremely important property is the tangent property, specifically:
C

M
D
A

In this picture, note that the three highlighted angles are the same. The proof is simple. First
draw the perpendicular bisector of AB, connecting to its circumcenter. Note that 6 C and
6 AOM sweep out the same arc, and have the same angle. Finally, 6 DAM = 90 6 OAM =
6 AOM .
Just to get a sense of the magic we can make with cyclic quadrilaterals, heres our first
problem. So why are cyclic quadrilaterals useful? An example would be the Miquel point.
Ill walk you guys through it!
C

F
E
X

B1

Say we pick points D, E, F on sides AB, BC, CA of an arbitrary triangle. We will prove that
the circumcircles of ADF , DBE and ECF pass through a common point.
Say we have point E on side BC and F on AC of a random triangle. Call the intersection
of the circumcircles (thats not F ) CF E and ADF to be X. If we prove that DXEB lie
on the same circle, then we know that X passes through the circumcircle of DBE as well,
implying the result.
First, we add in some cyclic quadrilaterals!
C

F
E
X

B1

How do we prove that a quadrilateral is cyclic again? In this case, lets try to show that
angles BDX and BEX add up to 180. Well, we can just circum-navigate (pun intended)
through this diagram. We know that
6
6
6
6

ADX
AF X
CF X
AEX

= 180 6 BDX
= 180 6 ADX = 6 BDX
= 180 6 AF X = 180 6 BDX
= 6 BDX
6 BEX + 6 BDX = 180.

This implies that X goes through the circumcircle of triangle BDE! Finally, X is the beautiful Miquel Point in this triangle.

Problems to Solve
Easy: 1 3, Medium: 4 5, Hard: 6 8
1. Prove that if a right triangle is inscribed in a circle, then its hypotenuse is the diameter
of the circle.
2. Prove that a trapezoid is cyclic if and only if it is isosceles.
3. Inscribed in a circle is a quadrilateral having sides of lengths 25, 39, 52 and 60 taken
consecutively. What is the diameter of this circle?
5

(Source:AHSME)
4. Distinct points A and B are on a semicircle with diameter M N and center C. The
_
_
point P is on CN and 6 CAP = 6 CBP = 10 . If M A= 40 , then what does BN
equal?

5. Prove, using, similar triangles, Ptlomeys Theorem, which states: Let a, b, c, d be consecutive side lengths in a cyclic quadrilateral. Let d and f be the lengths of the two
diagonals. Show that ac + bd = df.
6. In parallelogram ABCD with 6 BAD > 90, show that the circle passing through the
projections of C onto AB, BD, and DA, respectively, passes through the center of the
parallelogram.
7. Triangle KLM lies inside triangle ABC so that points K, L, M lie on the segments CL,
AM , BK, respectively. Prove that the circumcircles of the triangles ABM, BCK, CAL
pass through a common point.
8. On side BC of triangle ABC an arbitrary point D is selected. The tangent in D to the
circumcircle of triangle ABD meets AC at point B1 . Point C1 is defined analogously.
Prove that B1 C1 ||BC.