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Triangles and Squares (Posted on 2009-06-17) Difficulty: 3 of 5

For the arbitrary triangle ABC in the figure below, prove that:

   1) The yellow area is three times the cyan area.

   2) The magenta area is five times the red area.
Note: The yellow and cyan areas are squares.



  Submitted by Bractals    
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Solution: (Hide)


Let a = |BC|, b = |CA|, c = |AB|, d = |KL|, e = |MH|, and f = |IJ|.

Let [WX...Z] denote the area of polygon WX...Z.

PART 1

    Using the law of cosines:

        a2 = b2 + c2 - 2bc cos(/BAC)
        b2 = c2 + a2 - 2ca cos(/CBA) 
        c2 = a2 + b2 - 2ab cos(/ACB) 
        d2 = a2 + b2 - 2ab cos(/KCL)
           = a2 + b2 - 2ab cos(180-/ACB)
           = a2 + b2 + 2ab cos(/ACB)
        e2 = b2 + c2 - 2bc cos(/MAH)
           = b2 + c2 - 2bc cos(180-/BAC)
           = b2 + c2 + 2bc cos(/BAC)
        f2 = c2 + a2 - 2ca cos(/IBJ)
           = c2 + a2 - 2ca cos(180-/CBA)
           = c2 + a2 + 2ca cos(/CBA)

    Adding these six equations:

        d2 + e2 + f2 = 3(a2 + b2 + c2)

    The yellow area is three times the cyan area.

PART 2

    We will show that the area of quadrilateral STML 
    is five times the area of triangle HMA. A similar 
    argument can be used to show that the area of 
    quadrilateral UPIH is five times the area of triangle
    JIB and the area of quadrilateral QRKJ is five times 
    the area of triangle LKC.

    To do this, we will use complex numbers to show
    that ST is parallel to ML and |ST| = 4|ML|. Let the
    letters of the figure represent complex numbers
    and note that multiplying a complex number by i
    rotates that complex number CCW by 90 degrees.

        L = C - i(A-C) = C - iA + iC
        K = C + i(B-C) = C + iB - iC

        S = L + i(K-L) = L + iK - iL
          = (C - iA + iC) + i(C + iB - iC) - i(C - iA + iC)
          = C - iA + iC + iC - B + C - iC - A + C
          = -A - B + 3C - iA + iC

        M = A + i(C-A) = A + iC - iA
        H = A - i(B-A) = A - iB + iA

        T = M - i(H-M) = M - iH + iM
          = (A + iC - iA) - i(A - iB + iA) + i(A + iC - iA)
          = A + iC - iA - iA - B + A + iA - C + A
          = 3A - B - C - iA + iC

        S - T = 4(C - A) = 4(L - M)

    Let Y be the midpoint of ST, X the midpoint of SY,
    and Z the midpoint of YT. Clearly the line segments
    LX, LY, MY, and MZ divide STML into five triangles
    having the same area.

    All that is left is to show that triangle HMA is
    congruent to one of these five triangles.

    Extend line segment LM to N.

        |MT| = |HM| = e
        /MTZ = /TMN = 90 - /NMH = /HMA
        |TZ| = |MA| = b

    Therefore, triangles MTZ and HMA are congruent
    by side-angle-side.

    The magenta area is five times the red area.

NOTE

    Each red triangle has the same area as triangle ABC,

        [ABC] = bc/2 sin(/BAC) = bc/2 sin(180-/MAH) 
              = bc/2 sin(/MAH) = [HMA]

        [ABC] = ca/2 sin(/CBA) = ca/2 sin(180-/IBJ) 
              = ca/2 sin(/IBJ) = [JIB]

        [ABC] = ab/2 sin(/KCL) = ab/2 sin(180-/KCL] 
              = ab/2 sin(/KCL) = [LKC]

    Therefore, each magenta quadrilateral has an area
    five times the area of triangle ABC.

Comments: ( You must be logged in to post comments.)
  Subject Author Date
SolutionSolutionBrian Smith2009-06-19 11:41:03
Some ThoughtsTrapezoids?Brian Smith2009-06-17 19:07:06
re: yellow/cyan proofJer2009-06-17 14:23:39
yellow/cyan proofDaniel2009-06-17 13:07:25
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