Two lines pass through the point F(0;41) on the Cartesian plane. These lines are perpendicular to each other and intersect the parabola y=x2 at the points A, B, C and D (these points are mentioned in the x-coordinate increasing order). The difference of projections of the segments AD and BC to the x-axis equals m. Find the area of the quadrilateral ABCD.
Solution
Answer: 2m2. Denote the abscissas of the points A, B, C and D by a, b, c and d respectively. It is easy to see that the perpendicularity of the lines AC and BD is equivalent to the equality (a+c)(b+d)=−1 and the condition about the difference of projections is equivalent to the equality (a+c)−(b+d)=m. The fact that the point F belongs to the lines AC and BD means that ac=bd=−41. Let a+c=p and b+d=q, then the numbers a and c are the roots of the quadratic equation x2−px−41=0 and the numbers b and d are the roots of the quadratic equation x2−qx−41=0. Hence c−a=p2+1 and d−b=q2+1. Since the diagonals AC and BD of the quadrilateral ABCD are perpendicular, its area S is equal to half the product of the lengths of the diagonals. So, S=21(c−a)(d−b)1+(c+a)21+(d+b)2==21(1+p2)(1+q2)=2pq(q+qp2)(p+pq2)=−2−(p−q)2=2m2.
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Source: MathNet,
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