Problem:
Let be a -sided polygon. All but one side has length . What is the maximum possible area of ?
Solution
Solution:
First, we claim must be convex to maximize its area. If not, let and be consecutive vertices on the perimeter of its convex hull that aren't consecutive vertices of . Reflecting the path between and over line must increase the area of as the new shape strictly contains .
Thus we assume is convex. Let be the line containing the side with length not equal to . Let be the reflection of over . By convexity, and do not overlap, so the union of and is a polygon, specifically an equilateral -gon with sides of length .
The area of an equilateral polygon is maximized when it is regular, so this union has maximum area that of a regular -gon, which is . Thus, the answer is half of this, i.e.
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