Maths Olympiad Prep

Library / /364 of 520

Geometry Difficulty 7.2 National olympiad, round 2 Find the answer

A triangle is inscribed in a circle. The vertices of the triangle divide the circle into three arcs of lengths 33, 44, and 55. What is the area of the triangle?

Pick one

Solution

1. Determine the radius of the circle:
The perimeter of the circle is the sum of the lengths of the arcs, which is 3+4+5=123 + 4 + 5 = 12. The circumference of a circle is given by 2πr2 \pi r, where rr is the radius. Therefore, we have:
2πr=12    r=6π 2 \pi r = 12 \implies r = \frac{6}{\pi}

2. Determine the central angles corresponding to each arc:
The length of an arc is proportional to the central angle it subtends. The total circumference corresponds to 360360^\circ. Therefore, the angles corresponding to the arcs of lengths 3, 4, and 5 are:
Angle for arc 3: 312×360=90 \text{Angle for arc 3: } \frac{3}{12} \times 360^\circ = 90^\circ
Angle for arc 4: 412×360=120 \text{Angle for arc 4: } \frac{4}{12} \times 360^\circ = 120^\circ
Angle for arc 5: 512×360=150 \text{Angle for arc 5: } \frac{5}{12} \times 360^\circ = 150^\circ

3. Use the Law of Cosines to find the sides of the triangle:
For each central angle, we can use the Law of Cosines to find the corresponding side of the triangle. The Law of Cosines states:
c2=a2+b22abcos(θ) c^2 = a^2 + b^2 - 2ab \cos(\theta)
where aa and bb are the radii of the circle (both equal to rr), and θ\theta is the central angle.

- For the angle 9090^\circ:
a2=r2+r22r2cos(90)=2r2    a=2r a^2 = r^2 + r^2 - 2r^2 \cos(90^\circ) = 2r^2 \implies a = \sqrt{2} r

- For the angle 120120^\circ:
b2=r2+r22r2cos(120)=2r2(1cos(120))=2r2(1+12)=3r2    b=3r b^2 = r^2 + r^2 - 2r^2 \cos(120^\circ) = 2r^2 (1 - \cos(120^\circ)) = 2r^2 (1 + \frac{1}{2}) = 3r^2 \implies b = \sqrt{3} r

- For the angle 150150^\circ:
c2=r2+r22r2cos(150)=2r2(1cos(150))=2r2(1+32)=(2+3)r2    c=(2+3)r c^2 = r^2 + r^2 - 2r^2 \cos(150^\circ) = 2r^2 (1 - \cos(150^\circ)) = 2r^2 (1 + \frac{\sqrt{3}}{2}) = (2 + \sqrt{3})r^2 \implies c = \sqrt{(2 + \sqrt{3})} r

4. Calculate the area of the triangle using the formula for the area of a triangle with given sides and circumradius:
The area AA of a triangle with sides aa, bb, and cc and circumradius RR is given by:
A=abc4R A = \frac{abc}{4R}
Substituting a=2ra = \sqrt{2} r, b=3rb = \sqrt{3} r, c=(2+3)rc = \sqrt{(2 + \sqrt{3})} r, and R=rR = r:
A=(2r)(3r)((2+3)r)4r A = \frac{(\sqrt{2} r)(\sqrt{3} r)(\sqrt{(2 + \sqrt{3})} r)}{4r}
Simplifying:
A=6r3(2+3)4r=6r2(2+3)4 A = \frac{\sqrt{6} r^3 \sqrt{(2 + \sqrt{3})}}{4r} = \frac{\sqrt{6} r^2 \sqrt{(2 + \sqrt{3})}}{4}
Substituting r=6πr = \frac{6}{\pi}:
A=6(6π)2(2+3)4=6(36π2)(2+3)4=366(2+3)4π2 A = \frac{\sqrt{6} \left(\frac{6}{\pi}\right)^2 \sqrt{(2 + \sqrt{3})}}{4} = \frac{\sqrt{6} \left(\frac{36}{\pi^2}\right) \sqrt{(2 + \sqrt{3})}}{4} = \frac{36 \sqrt{6 (2 + \sqrt{3})}}{4 \pi^2}
Simplifying further:
A=96(2+3)π2 A = \frac{9 \sqrt{6 (2 + \sqrt{3})}}{\pi^2}
Since 6(2+3)=12+63=3+3\sqrt{6 (2 + \sqrt{3})} = \sqrt{12 + 6\sqrt{3}} = \sqrt{3} + 3:
A=9(3+3)π2 A = \frac{9 (\sqrt{3} + 3)}{\pi^2}

The final answer is 9π2(3+3)\boxed{\frac{9}{\pi^2} (\sqrt{3} + 3)}

Want a route through all this instead of an archive? The track puts 2,000 problems in a working order, from AMC 10 level to the IMO shortlist.

Source: NuminaMath-1.5, licensed Apache-2.0. Statement and solution reproduced as published; topic and difficulty added by this site.