Prove that a regular quadrilateral pyramid has two opposite lateral faces perpendicular if and only if the angle of two consecutive lateral faces has measure .
Romanian Mathematical Olympiad
Solution
Let be the base of the pyramid, its apex, its altitude and , the midpoints of the edges , respectively . Denote the length of the edge . Faces and are perpendicular if and only if the triangle is right and isosceles, with sides .
If is the foot of the perpendicular from on (same as the foot of the perpendicular from on ), then, computing in two ways the area of the triangle yields the equivalent condition .
This is equivalent with , that is .
Since represents the angle of two consecutive lateral faces, this finishes the proof.
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