Given is a regular pentagon . Determine the least value of the expression
where is an arbitrary point lying in the plane of the pentagon .
Solution
Without loss of generality assume that the given pentagon has the side equal to . Then the length of its diagonal is equal to
Set , , , , (Fig. 2).

Fig. 2
Applying the Ptolemy inequality for the (not necessarily convex) quadrilaterals , and we obtain (respectively)
We multiply the third inequality by and add together with the first and the second inequalities. As a result we obtain
Grouping the respective terms, the above inequality reduces to
Therefore
The equality holds if and only if the convex quadrilaterals , and are cyclic. This condition is satisfied if and only if the point lies on the minor arc of the circumcircle of the pentagon (Fig. 3). Therefore the smallest possible value of the given expression is .

Fig. 3
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