Inside square ABCD there is a point P. Given PA=x, PB=z, PC=y, prove that: (x−y)2<2z2<(x+y)2
Solution
Let the side length of square ABCD be a, let the projection length of PA onto BC be t, and let the projection length of PB onto CD be v. As shown in the figure then x,y,z can be expressed as follows: x2=t2+(a−v)2(1) y2=v2+(a−t)2(2) z2=t2+v2(3)
From (1) and (3) we solve for v=2aa2+z2−x2 From (2) and (3) we solve for t=2aa2+z2−y2 Substituting back into (3) gives z2=(2aa2+z2−x2)2+(2aa2+z2−y2)2 After simplification we obtain the equation in a 2a4−2a2(x2+y2)+(z2−x2)2+(z2−y2)2=0 Regarding this as a quadratic equation in a2, we solve to get a2=2x2+y2+(x2+y2)2−2(z2−x2)2−2(z2−y2)2 Since a2 has a solution, the discriminant is non-negative. If this equation has a repeated root, that means a2=2x2+y2 But from (1)+(2) we obtain x2+y2=2a2+2t2+2v2−2av−2at=2a2+2(t(a−v)+v(v−a))<2a2 which is a contradiction. Therefore the discriminant of this quadratic equation is greater than zero, that is (x2+y2)2−2(z2−x2)2−2(z2−y2)2>0 This is equivalent to ((x−y)2−2z2)((x+y)2−2z2)<0 Hence (x−y)2<2z2<(x+y)2
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