Consider a tetrahedron with and . If the projection of the vertex on the plane is the orthocenter of the triangle , prove that and .
Solution
Let and be the altitudes from and , respectively, of the triangle , and denote by their meeting point. The three perpendiculars theorem implies that and .
Unfold the tetrahedron on the plane and denote by the image of the vertex of the triangle and by the image of the vertex of the triangle , after the unfolding.

The perpendicularities and are maintained on the unfolding. Therefore, we deduce that and are collinear. Similarly, we find that and are collinear.
As , the points and are collinear; obviously, is the midpoint of the segment .
, hence the lines are parallel, so is a trapezium, whose diagonals meet in . The midpoint of the larger base lies on the line , therefore also contains the midpoint of the smaller base . Because is simultaneously an altitude and a median of the triangle , it follows that the triangle is isosceles, with .
The line is the common perpendicular bisector of the bases of the trapezium , therefore is an isosceles trapezium, hence and thus .
Alternative solution:
From , and , we deduce that .
Let be the orthocenter of the triangle and its altitudes. From the three perpendiculars theorem, we deduce and .
Triangles and are similar, therefore we have . Moreover, from the similarity of the triangles and we deduce . We obtain , and thus .
From and we deduce , whence . If , then .
We obtain , therefore iff , thus the triangles and are congruent, whence we have . Similarly, we deduce that the triangles and are congruent, therefore .
