Problem:
In triangle , , , . Squares , , are constructed outside the triangle. Squares , , are constructed outside the hexagon . Squares , , are constructed outside the hexagon . Find the area of the hexagon .
Problem:
In triangle , , , . Squares , , are constructed outside the triangle. Squares , , are constructed outside the hexagon . Squares , , are constructed outside the hexagon . Find the area of the hexagon .
Solution:
We can use complex numbers to find synthetic observations. Let , , . Notice that is a rotation by (counter-clockwise) of about , and similarly is a rotation by of about . Since rotation by corresponds to multiplication by , we have and . Similarly, we get , , , . Repeating the same trick on et al., we get , , , , , . Finally, repeating the same trick on the outermost squares, we get , , , , , .
From here, we observe the following synthetic observations.
S1. , , are trapezoids with bases of lengths ; ; and heights respectively (where is the length of the altitude from to , and likewise for ).
S2. If we extend and to intersect at , then with scale factor . Likewise when we replace all 's with 's or 's.
Proof of S1. Observe and , hence and . Furthermore, since translation preserves properties of trapezoids, we can translate such that coincides with . Being a translation of , we see that maps to and maps to . Both and lie on the line determined by and (since ), so the altitude from to is also the altitude from to . Thus equals the length of the altitude from to , which is the height of the trapezoid . This proves S1 for ; the other trapezoids follow similarly.
Proof of S2. Notice a translation of maps to , to , and to a point . This means . We can also verify that and , showing that is a dilation of with scale factor . We also get lies on and , so . This proves S2 for , and similar arguments prove the likewise part.
Now we are ready to attack the final computation. By S2, . But by the formula, (since ). Hence,
. Similarly, and . Finally, the formula for area of a trapezoid shows , and similarly the other small trapezoids have area . The trapezoids thus contribute area . Finally, contributes area .
By S1, the outside squares have side lengths , so the sum of areas of the outside squares is . Furthermore, a Law of Cosines computation shows , and similarly and . Thus the sum of the areas of et al. is . Finally, the small squares have area add up to . Aggregating all contributions from trapezoids, squares, and triangle, we get
Solution:
Let , , . We can prove S1 and S2 using some trigonometry instead.
Proof of S1. The altitude from to has length using Law of Sines. Similarly, we find the altitude from to equals , thus proving is a trapezoid. Using from end of Solution 1, we get the length of the projection of onto is , and similarly the projection of onto has length . It follows that , proving S1 for ; the other cases follow similarly.
Proof of S2. Define to be the image of under the translation taking to . We claim lies on . Indeed, , so . Thus . But , hence are collinear. Similarly we can prove passes through , so . Finally, (using , , , ) shows with scale factor , as desired. The likewise part follows similarly.