GeometryDifficulty 7.2National Olympiad, round 2Prove itUnited States
Problem:
To dissect a polygon means to divide it into several regions by cutting along finitely many line segments. For example, the diagram below shows a dissection of a hexagon into two triangles and two quadrilaterals:
An integer-ratio right triangle is a right triangle whose side lengths are in an integer ratio. For example, a triangle with sides 3,4,5 is an integer-ratio right triangle, and so is a triangle with sides 253,63,2133. On the other hand, the right triangle with sides 2,5,7 is not an integer-ratio right triangle.
Determine, with proof, all integers n for which it is possible to completely dissect a regular n-sided polygon into integer-ratio right triangles.
Solution
Solution:
Abbreviate integer-ratio right triangle by IRRT.
The square (n=4) has such a decomposition. For example, a 12×12 square can be cut into twenty-four 3-4-5 triangles as shown below:
Now we show that n=4 is the only solution. The proof is by contradiction. Suppose an n-gon with n=4 (and n≥3) has a dissection into IRRTs. Choose an arbitrary vertex P of the n-gon. One or more IRRTs meet at P; let their internal angles at P be θ1,θ2,…,θk, where we have θ1+θ2+⋯+θk=nn−2⋅π. Observe that sinθi and cosθi are rational for each i=1,…,k. By applying angle-sum identities, we may infer that the sine and cosine of nn−2⋅π, and thus of 2π/n, are rational as well. Applying angle-sum identities again, it follows that for any divisor m of n, the sine and cosine of 2π/m are also rational. Since n=4 and n≥3,n has a divisor which is either 8 or an odd prime. So, we can restrict our attention to these two cases.
For n=8, we have sin(2π/8)=2/2. This is irrational, so we have our contradiction.
Now we consider the case n=p where p is an odd prime. Let t=tan(2π/p), which must be rational. By the multiple-angle identity for tangents, t satisfies pt−(p3)t3+(p5)t5−⋯±tp=0 By the Rational Root Theorem, the only possible rational values of t are t=±1 and t=±p. But t=±1, because p2π=4π,43π,45π,47π. If t=±p, then the left-hand side of (2) is congruent to p2(modp3) and thus cannot equal 0. Again, we have a contradiction.
It follows that no n-gon with n=4 has a dissection into IRRTs.
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