A circle with radius is given. A collection of triangles is called [i]good[/i], if the following conditions hold:
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[*] each triangle from is inscribed in ;
[*] no two triangles from have a common interior point.
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Determine all positive real numbers such that, for each positive integer , there exists a good collection of triangles, each of perimeter greater than .
Solution
Consider a circle with radius . We will determine the set of all positive real numbers such that for each positive integer , there exists a \emph{good} collection of triangles inscribed in , where each triangle has a perimeter greater than . A \emph{good} collection of triangles satisfies the following conditions:
1. Each triangle from is inscribed in .
2. No two triangles from have a common interior point.
Since each triangle in is inscribed in a circle with radius , the maximum possible perimeter of any such triangle is achieved when the triangle becomes an equilateral triangle. The side length of an equilateral triangle inscribed in a circle of radius is , and the perimeter of an equilateral triangle is given by:
For the set of all triangles to be good, their interior must not overlap. To satisfy this condition, each triangle can be made smaller by reducing the arc between successive vertices of the triangles on the circle. However, as we consider an infinitely large number of triangles, we can approach the situation where each triangle becomes a chord of the circle, and thus each triangle will have a perimeter arbitrarily close to , the circumference of the circle (since ).
Hence, to ensure the existence of a good collection of triangles for each positive integer , the condition must hold. This is because inscribed triangles with perimeters converging to can be configured for any finite , respecting the non-overlapping constraint. Finally:
If , then triangles of perimeter greater than can still be configured into . Therefore, the range for allowing the existence of such collections for any is:
Thus, the complete set of positive real numbers is:
This solution verifies that for every positive integer , it is feasible to construct triangles in with perimeter , with up to .