ABCD is a cyclic quadrilateral such that AB=BC=CA. Diagonals AC and BD intersect at E. Given that BE=19 and ED=6, find the possible values of AD.
Solution
Applying Ptolemy relation to the cyclic quadrilateral ABCD, we get AB⋅CD+BC⋅DA=AC⋅BD which simplifies to CD+DA=25 Let a=AB=BC=CA and x=AE. We have, from similarity of triangles AED and BEC, that aDA=19x We have, from similarity of triangles CED and BEA, that aCD=19a−x. We deduce that 19a=19x+19a−x=aDA+aCD=a25, and therefore a=519. Applying sine law on the circumcircle of ABCD, we obtain 25sin∠BAD=519sin∠BAC=19057. Hence sin∠BAD=38557, that is cos∠BAD=±38382−25×57=±3819. Applying cosine law to triangle ABD, we obtain 252=25×19+AD2±2×519×AD×3819, and therefore, AD=10 or 15.
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Source: MathNet,
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