Let A, B, C, D, E be five points in the plane with distances given (in some units) as ∣AB∣=12,∣BC∣=50,∣CD∣=38,∣AD∣=100,∣BE∣=30,∣CE∣=40. Find the distance ∣ED∣.
Solution
Since ∣AD∣=100=12+50+38=∣AB∣+∣BC∣+∣CD∣, the points A, B, C, D lie on a line in this order. Since ∣BE∣2+∣EC∣2=302+402=900+1600=2500=502=∣BC∣2, the triangle EBC has a right angle at E.
Let Q be the projection of E on the hypotenuse BC of this triangle. Then twice the area of this triangle is equal to ∣EQ∣×∣BC∣=∣EC∣×∣EB∣, hence ∣EQ∣=∣BC∣∣EC∣×∣EB∣=5040×30=24. By Pythagoras, ∣QC∣=∣EC∣2−∣EQ∣2=402−242=1600−576=1024=32, and so ∣QD∣=∣QC∣+∣CD∣=32+38=70, hence ∣ED∣=∣QE∣2+∣QD∣2=242+702=576+4900=5476=74.
Want a route through all this instead of an archive? The track
puts 2,000 problems in a working order, from AMC 10 level to the IMO shortlist.
Source: MathNet,
licensed CC-BY-4.0.
Statement reproduced verbatim; metadata (topic, difficulty) added by this project.