Forum Geometricorum Volume 8 (2008) 4348.

FORUM GEOM ISSN 1534-1178

On the Parry Reection Point

Cosmin Pohoata

Abstract. We give a synthetic proof of C. F. Parrys theorem that the reections in the sidelines of a triangle of three parallel lines through the vertices are concurrent if and only if they are parallel to the Euler line, the point of concurrency being the Parry reection point. We also show that the Parry reection point is common to a triad of circles associated with the tangential triangle and the triangle of reections (of the vertices in their opposite sides). A dual result is also given.

1. The Parry reection point Theorem 1 (Parry). Suppose triangle ABC has circumcenter O and orthocenter H . Parallel lines , , are drawn through the vertices A, B , C , respectively. Let , , be the reections of , , in the sides BC , CA, AB , respectively. These reections are concurrent if and only if , , are parallel to the Euler line OH . In this case, their point of concurrency P is the reection of O in E , the Euler reection point.
A

C E

Figure 1.

We give a synthetic proof of this beautiful theorem below. C. F. Parry proposed this as a problem in the A MERICAN M ATHEMATICAL M ONTHLY, which was subsequently solved by R. L. Young using complex coordinates [6]. The point P in question is called the Parry reection point. It appears as the triangle center X399
Publication Date: February 25, 2008. Communicating Editor: Paul Yiu. The author thanks an anonymous referee for suggestions leading to improvement of the paper, especially on the proof of Theorem 3.

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in [5]. The Euler reection point E , on the other hand, is the point on the circumcircle which is the point of concurrency of the reections of the Euler line in the sidelines. See Figure 1. It appears as X110 in [5]. The existence of E is justied by another elegant result on reections of lines, which we use to deduce Theorem 1. Theorem 2 (Collings). Let be a line in the plane of a triangle ABC . Its reections in the sidelines BC , CA, AB are concurrent if and only if passes through the orthocenter H of ABC . In this case, their point of concurrency lies on the circumcircle. Synthetic proofs of Theorem 2 can be found in [1] and [3]. We denote by A , B , C the reections of A, B , C in their opposite sides, and by At Bt Ct the tangential triangle of ABC . Theorem 3. The circumcircles of triangles At B C , Bt C A and Ct A B are concurrent at Parrys reection point P . See Figure 2.

Bt A Ct B C O B C B

Bt A Ct B

C P

Q O C

At A

At A

Figure 2

Figure 3

Theorem 4. The circumcircles of triangles A Bt Ct , B Ct At and C At Bt have a common point Q. See Figure 3. 2. Proof of Theorem 1 Let A1 B1 C1 be the image of ABC under the homothety h(O, 2). The orthocenter H1 of A1 B1 C1 is the reection of O in H , and is on the Euler line of triangle ABC . Consider the line through H parallel to the given lines , , . Let M be the midpoint of BC , and M1 = h(O, 2)(M ) on the line B1 C1 . The line AH intersects

On the Parry reection point

A1

45

O H1 B H X M C

B1

X1

M1

C1

Figure 4.

BC and B1 C1 at X and X1 respectively. Note that the reection of H in B1 C1 is the reection D of A in BC since AH = 2 OM and HA =AA AH = 2(AX OM ) = 2(AH + HX OM ) =2(HX + OM ) = 2(HX + XX1 ) = 2HX1 . Therefore, coincides with the reection of in the sides B1 C1 . Similarly, and coincide with the reections of in C1 A1 and A1 B1 . By Theorem 2, the lines , , are concurrent if and only if passes through the orthocenter H1 . Since H also lies on , this is the case when is the Euler line of triangle ABC , which is also the Euler line of triangle A1 B1 C1 . In this case, the point of concurrency is the Euler reection point of A1 B1 C1 , which is the image of E under the homothety h(O, 2).

3. Proof of Theorem 3 We shall make use of the notion of directed angles (1 , 2 ) between two lines 1 and 2 as the angle of rotation (dened modulo ) that will bring 1 to 2 in the same orientation as ABC . For the basic properties of directed angles, see [4, 1619]. Let , , be lines through the vertices A, B , C , respectively parallel to the Euler line. By Theorem 1, their reections , , in the sides BC , CA, AB pass through the Parry reection point P .

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Bt A Ct B

C P O H B C

At

Figure 5

Now, since , , are parallel, (P B , P C ) = ( , ) = ( , BC ) + (BC, ) = ( , B C ) (BC , ) = (B C, ) + (, BC ) = (B C, ) + (, BC ) = (B C, BC ) = (B C, AC ) + (AC, BC ) = (AC, BC ) + (AC, BC ) because of symmetry in AC = (AC, AB ) + (AB, BC ) + (AC, AB ) + (AB, BC ) = 2(AC, AB ) because of symmetry in AB = (OC, OB ) = (At C, At B ). Since At B = At C and BC = BC = B C , we conclude that the triangles At BC and At CB are directly congruent. Hence, (At B , At C ) = (At C, At B ). This gives (P B , P C ) = (At B , At C ), and the points P , At , B , C are concyclic. The circle At B C contains the Parry reection point, so do the circles Bt C A and Ct A B .

because of symmetry in AC

On the Parry reection point

47

4. Proof of Theorem 4 Invert with respect to the Parry point P . By Theorem 3, the circles At B C , Bt C A , Ct A B are inverted into the three lines bounding triangle A B C . Here, A , B , C are the inversive images of A , B , C respectively. Since the points A t , Bt , Ct lie on the lines B C , C A , A B , respectively, by C A , C A B Miquels theorem, the circumcircles of triangles At B C , Bt t have a common point; so do their inversive images, the circles At B C , Bt C A , Ct A B . This completes the proof of Theorem 4. The homogenous barycentric coordinates of their point of concurrency Q were computed by Javier Francisco Garcia Capit an [2] with the aid of Mathematica. Added in proof. After the completion of this paper, we have found that the points P and Q are concyclic with the circumcenter O and the orthocenter H . See Figure 6. Paul Yiu has conrmed this by computing the coordinates of the center of the circle of these four points:
(a2 (b2 c2 )(a8 (b2 + c2 ) a6 (4b4 + 3b2 c2 + 4c4 ) + 2a4 (b2 + c2 )(3b4 2b2 c2 + 3c4 ) a2 (4b8 b6 c2 + b4 c4 b2 c6 + 4c8 ) + (b2 c2 )2 (b2 + c2 )(b4 + c4 ))) : : ),

where the second and third coordinates are obtained by cyclic permutations of a, b, c.

Bt A Ct C P Q H B C O B

At

Figure 6.

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For completeness, we record the coordinates of Q given by Garcia Capit an:

10 10 10

Q = (a2
k=0

a2(10k) f2k,a (b, c) : b2

k=0

b2(10k) f2k,b (c, a) : c2

k=0

c2(10k) f2k,c (a, b)),

where
f0,a (b, c) = 1, f2,a (b, c) = 6(b2 + c2 ) f4,a (b, c) = 2(7b4 + 12b2 c2 + 7c4 ), f6,a (b, c) = 2(b2 + c2 )(7b4 + 10b2 c2 + 7c4 ), f8,a (b, c) = b2 c2 (18b4 + 25b2 c2 + 18c4 ), f10,a (b, c) = (b2 + c2 )(14b8 15b6 c2 + 8b4 c4 15b2 c6 + 14c8 ), f12,a (b, c) = 14b12 + b10 c2 + 5b8 c4 2b6 c6 + 5b4 c8 + b2 c10 14c12 , f14,a (b, c) = (b2 c2 )2 (b2 + c2 )(6b8 + 2b6 c2 + 5b4 c4 + 2b2 c6 + 6c8 ), f16,a (b, c) = (b2 c2 )2 (b + c)2 (b12 2b10 c2 b8 c4 6b6 c6 b4 c8 2b2 c10 + c12 ), f18,a (b, c) = b2 c2 (b2 c2 )4 (b2 + c2 )(3b4 + b2 c2 + 3c4 ), f20,a (b, c) = b2 c2 (b2 c2 )6 (b2 + c2 )2 .

References
[1] S. N. Collings, Reections on a triangle, part 1, Math. Gazette, 57 (1973) 291293. [2] J. F. Garcia Capit an, Hyacinthos message 15827, November 19, 2007. [3] D. Grinberg, Anti-Steiner points with respect to a triangle, available at http://de.geocities.com/darij grinberg. [4] R. A. Johnson, Advanced Euclidean Geometry, 1929, Dover reprint 2007. [5] C. Kimberling, Encyclopedia of Triangle Centers, available at http://faculty.evansville.edu/ck6/encyclopedia/ETC.html. [6] C. F. Parry and R. L. Young, Problem 10637, Amer. Math. Monthly, 106 (1999) 779780; solution, ibid. [7] C. Pohoata, Hyacinthos message 15825, November 18, 2007. Cosmin Pohoata: 13 Pridvorului Street, Bucharest, Romania 010014 E-mail address: pohoata cosmin2000@yahoo.com