Maths Olympiad Prep

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Geometry Difficulty 5.1 AIME, harder Prove it Soviet Union

Problem:
What is the greatest number of sides of a convex polygon that can equal its longest diagonal?

Solution

Solution:
Answer: 2, except for the equilateral triangle.
It is easy to find two. Take the two sides to be ABAB and ACAC with angle BAC=60BAC = 60^{\circ}, and take the other vertices on the minor arc of the circle center AA radius ABAB between BB and CC.

Let the longest diagonal have length kk. Suppose there are three sides with length kk. Extend them (if necessary) so they meet at AA, BB, CC. Suppose A>60\angle A > 60^{\circ}. Take the vertices on side ABAB to be PP, QQ (where we may have P=AP = A, or Q=BQ = B, or both). Take the vertices on side ACAC to be RR, SS (where we may have R=AR = A, or S=CS = C, or both). Then AQkAQ \geq k, ASkAS \geq k, so QS>kQS > k. Contradiction. Hence angle A60A \leq 60^{\circ}. The same is true for B\angle B and C\angle C. Hence A=B=C=60\angle A = \angle B = \angle C = 60^{\circ}. But now QS>kQS > k unless A=P=RA = P = R. Similarly, BB and CC must be vertices of the convex polygon, so that it is just an equilateral triangle.

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Source: MathNet, licensed CC-BY-4.0. Statement reproduced verbatim; metadata (topic, difficulty) added by this project.