Problem:
In triangle with altitude , , , and . Find the area of triangle .
Problem:
In triangle with altitude , , , and . Find the area of triangle .
Solution:
Suppose first that lies between and . Let be inscribed in circle , and extend to intersect again at . Note that subtends a quarter of the circle, so in particular, the chord through perpendicular to and parallel to has length . Therefore, . By power of a point, , implying , so the area of is .
If does not lie between and , then , so lies on a circle of radius through and . But then it is easy to check that the perpendicular to through cannot intersect the circle, a contradiction.
