Maths Olympiad Prep

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Geometry Difficulty 5.9 AIME, harder Prove it Soviet Union

Problem:
The difference between the longest and shortest diagonals of the regular nn-gon equals its side. Find all possible nn.

Solution

Solution:
Answer: n=9n = 9

For n<6n < 6, there is at most one length of diagonal. For n=6n = 6, 77 the longest and shortest, and a side of the nn-gon form a triangle, so the difference between the longest and shortest is less than the side.

For n>7n > 7 the side has length 2Rsinπn2R \sin \dfrac{\pi}{n}, the shortest diagonal has length 2Rsin2πn2R \sin \dfrac{2\pi}{n}, and the longest diagonal has length 2R2R for nn even and 2Rcosπ2n2R \cos \dfrac{\pi}{2n} for nn odd (where RR is the radius of the circumcircle). Thus we require:

sin2πn+sinπn=1\sin \dfrac{2\pi}{n} + \sin \dfrac{\pi}{n} = 1 and nn even, or

sin2πn+sinπn=cosπ2n\sin \dfrac{2\pi}{n} + \sin \dfrac{\pi}{n} = \cos \dfrac{\pi}{2n} and nn odd.

Evidently the lhs is a strictly decreasing function of nn and the rhs is an increasing function of nn, so there can be at most one solution of each equation. The second equation is satisfied by n=9n = 9, although it is easier to see that there is a quadrilateral with the longest diagonal and shortest diagonals as one pair of opposite sides, and 99-gon sides as the other pair of opposite sides. The angle between the longest side and an adjacent side is 6060, so that its length is the length of the shortest diagonal plus 2×2 \times 99-gon side ×cos60\times \cos 60. Hence that is the only solution for nn odd.

For n=8n = 8 we have the same quadrilateral as for the 99-gon except that the angle is 67.567.5 and hence the difference is less than 11. For n=10n = 10, sin2π10+sinπ10=sinπ10(2cosπ10+1)<3sinπ10<3π10<1\sin \dfrac{2\pi}{10} + \sin \dfrac{\pi}{10} = \sin \dfrac{\pi}{10}(2 \cos \dfrac{\pi}{10} + 1) < 3 \sin \dfrac{\pi}{10} < 3\dfrac{\pi}{10} < 1. So there are no solutions for nn even 10\geq 10, and hence no solutions for nn even.

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Source: MathNet, licensed CC-BY-4.0. Statement reproduced verbatim; metadata (topic, difficulty) added by this project.