Maths Olympiad Prep

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Geometry Difficulty 4.0 AMC 10/12 Prove it United States

Problem:
Given five vertices of a regular heptagon, construct the two remaining vertices using straightedge alone.

Solution

Solution:
Let A,B,C,DA, B, C, D, and EE be the known vertices and FF and GG the unknown vertices. The arrangement of A,B,C,DA, B, C, D, and EE depends on the relative positions of FF and GG as shown in the diagram.
Figure 1
By connecting the intersections of BCB C with DED E and BDB D with CEC E one finds ll, the line of symmetry through GG. Let ABA B and ACA C meet ll in HH and II respectively. By symmetry about l,HEl, H E and IDI D both pass through FF. Now perform the same construction on B,C,D,E,FB, C, D, E, F to get GG.

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Source: MathNet, licensed CC-BY-4.0. Statement reproduced verbatim; metadata (topic, difficulty) added by this project.