Let ABC be a triangle with AB=9,BC=10, and CA=17. Let B′ be the reflection of the point B over the line CA. Let G be the centroid of triangle ABC, and let G′ be the centroid of triangle AB′C. Determine the length of segment GG′.
A number or a short expression. Fractions can be typed as 3/2, and spacing doesn't matter.
Solution
Let M be the midpoint of AC. For any triangle, we know that the centroid is located 2/3 of the way from the vertex, so we have MG/MB=MG′/MB′=1/3, and it follows that MGG′∼MBB′. Thus, GG′=BB′/3. However, note that BB′ is twice the altitude to AC in triangle ABC. To finish, we calculate the area of ABC in two different ways. By Heron's Formula, we have [ABC]=18(18−9)(18−10)(18−17)=36 and we also have [ABC]=41BB′⋅AC=417(BB′) from which it follows that GG′=BB′/3=48/17.
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