Suppose △ABC is a triangle inscribed in the unit circle. Prove that its area doesn't exceed 33/4, and its perimeter doesn't exceed 33, with equality in both cases iff the triangle is equilateral.
Solution
Let O denote the centre of the circle, and let α,β,γ, respectively, be the radian measures of the vertex angles ∠A,∠B,∠C. Since the circumradius of ABC is 1, the formula for the circumradius of any triangle tells us that sinαa=sinβb=sinγc=2, and so the area of ABC is given by (ABC)=21absinγ=2sinαsinβsinγ.
We now show that the function f(x)=ln(sinx) is strictly concave on (0,π) which enables us to apply Jensen's inequality. Indeed, if x,y∈(0,π), then sinx⋅siny=21(cos(x−y)−cos(x+y))=sin2(2x+y)−sin2(2x−y)≤sin2(2x+y), with equality iff x=y. Taking logarithms this yields 2f(x)+f(y)≤f(2x+y) with equality iff x=y. This shows that f is strictly concave on (0,π) and we can use Jensen's inequality: f(x)+f(y)+f(z)≤3f(3x+y+z), which translates into (ABC)≤2sin3(3α+β+γ)=2sin3(3π)=433, with equality iff α=β=γ. That is, (ABC)≤433, with equality iff the triangle is equilateral. From the formula for the circumradius, already employed above, we obtain a=2sinα, b=2sinβ, and c=2sinγ. Hence the perimeter p of ABC is equal to 2(sinα+sinβ+sinγ) and Jensen's inequality for the strictly concave function sin(x) on [0,π] gives p=2(sinα+sinβ+sinγ)≤6sin(3α+β+γ)=6sin3π=33, with equality iff α=β=γ=π/3, i.e. equality holds, iff ABC is equilateral.
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