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Newton's Theorem for tangential quadrilaterals is this:

The center of the circle inscribed into a quadrilateral lies on the line joining the midpoints of the latter's diagonals.

For more information, see Cut-the-Knot's entry.

Is there any synthetic proof which doesn't use Anne's theorem, trigonometry, or complex numbers? I've just found out a simple proof.

Blue
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RopuToran
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  • If you have found a proof, you should show it and ask for feedback. That way, answerers won't duplicate your effort. – Blue Jul 12 '18 at 06:26
  • So I'll post here like an answer or edit the question ? – RopuToran Jul 12 '18 at 06:50
  • If you're asking for a simple proof of Newton's Theorem, then post your proof as an answer. That's certainly allowed here. (You should edit the question to state that you're going to do so. Some people don't look at existing answers before considering a question.) If you want to know if your proof is already known, or whether there's a flaw, or something like that, then put the proof into the question itself. (I lean towards putting the proof in an answer.) – Blue Jul 12 '18 at 06:57
  • looks like nobody care about this :D – RopuToran Jul 13 '18 at 05:20
  • Maybe people just need more time with the problem. I've been looking at it myself. A coordinate proof is fairly immediate, but an elegant, trig-free alternative is (so far) elusive. – Blue Jul 13 '18 at 06:54
  • @Blue: I'd like to contact to you. Would you leave an e-mail or something ? – RopuToran Jul 13 '18 at 09:04
  • You can use the "Email the Trigonographer" link at the bottom of my Trigonography site. – Blue Jul 13 '18 at 10:31

2 Answers2

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Here's my proof:

Lemma: Given $\triangle ABC$ with incenter $I$, let incircle $\bigcirc I$ touch $BC$ at $D$. Let $M$, $N$ be the midpoints of $BC$, $AD$. Then $\overline{M,I,N}$.

enter image description here

Proof: Let $DD^\prime$ be the diameter of $\bigcirc I$. A line through $D^\prime$ and parallel to $BC$ intersect $AB$, $AC$ at $E$, $F$. Let $AD^\prime$ meet $BC$ at $H$.

It's well-known that there is a homothety at $A$ which maps $\triangle AEF \leftrightarrow \triangle ABC$ and maps the excircle of $\triangle AEF$ (it's $\bigcirc I$, as well) into the excircle of $\triangle ABC$. Then $H$ is the tangent point of the excircle of $\triangle ABC$ with $BC$. So $M$ is the midpoint of $HD$. Therefore, $IM \parallel AH$. We also have $MN \parallel AH$, so done.

Now's the problem:

Given a tangential quadrilateral $\square SBCR$. Prove that $I$ is collinear with the midpoints of $CS$ and $BR$.

enter image description here

Let $BS$ intersect $CR$ at $A$, and let the incircle touch $BC$, $CR$, $RS$, $SB$ at $D$, $E$, $D^\prime$, $F$. Let $DD^\prime$ meet $EF$ at $Q$. It's well-known that $CS$, $BR$, $DD^\prime$, $EF$ are concurent at $Q$.

Let $M$, $N$, $P$, $X$, $Y$, $Z$, $T$ be the midpoints of $BC$, $CA$, $AB$, $BR$, $BE$, $CF$, $CS$.

From the lemma, we have $\overline{Y,I,N}$ and $\overline{Z,I,P}$. While $M$ is the midpoint of $BC$, we have: $\overline{M,Y,X,P}$ and $\overline{M,Z,T,N}$

It's well-known from the double ratio that $PZ$, $YE$, $XT$ are concurent if and only if $(M,Y,X,P)=(M,N,T,Z)$. We will prove this.

From Menelaus's theorem for $\triangle ABR$ we have $$\frac{\overline{CR}}{\overline{CA}}\cdot\frac{\overline{SA}} {\overline{SB}}\cdot\frac{\overline{QB}}{\overline{QR}}=1\tag{1}$$

Now, $$\begin{align} (M,Y,X,P)=(M,N,T,Z) &\iff \frac{\overline{XM}}{\overline{XY}}:\frac{\overline{PM}}{\overline{PY}}=\frac{\overline{TM}}{\overline{TN}}:\frac{\overline{ZM}}{\overline{ZN}} \\[6pt] &\iff \frac{\overline{RC}}{\overline{RE}}:\frac{\overline{AC}}{\overline{AE}}=\frac{\overline{SB}}{\overline{SA}}:\frac{\overline{FB}}{\overline{FA}} \\[6pt] &\iff \frac{\overline{RC}}{\overline{AC}}\cdot\frac{\overline{BF}}{\overline{RE}}\cdot\frac{\overline{SA}}{\overline{SB}}=1 \\[6pt] &\iff \frac{\overline{BF}}{\overline{RE}}=\frac{\overline{QB}}{\overline{QR}} \quad \text{(using $(1)$)} \\[6pt] &\iff \frac{BD}{RD^\prime}=\frac{QB}{QR} \\[6pt] &\iff \frac{BD}{BQ}=\dfrac{RD^\prime}{RQ} \\[6pt] &\iff \frac{\sin{\angle BQD}}{\sin{\angle BDQ}}=\frac{\sin{\angle RQD^\prime}}{\sin{\angle RD^\prime Q}} \end{align}$$ and this is easy to check its truth.

Blue
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RopuToran
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  • this is probably as synthetic as it gets. I feel like I remember seeing a purely vector proof back when I used to these stuff in high school. – dezdichado Dec 31 '19 at 00:04
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Nice solution! We can skip the computations by noticing that \begin{align} (M, Y, X, P) = (M, Z, T, N) &\iff (C, E, R, A) = (B, F, S, A) \\ &\iff CS \cap EF \cap RB \neq\varnothing\end{align} which is certainly the case.

Blue
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