Let ABC be a triangle with AB=5,BC=4, and CA=3. Initially, there is an ant at each vertex. The ants start walking at a rate of 1 unit per second, in the direction A→B→C→A (so the ant starting at A moves along ray AB, etc.). For a positive real number t less than 3, let A(t) be the area of the triangle whose vertices are the positions of the ants after t seconds have elapsed. For what positive real number t less than 3 is A(t) minimized?
A number or a short expression. Spacing and $ signs are ignored.
Solution
We instead maximize the area of the remaining triangles. This area (using 21xysinθ ) is 21(t)(5−t)53+21(t)(3−t)54+21(t)(4−t)1=101(−12t2+47t), which has a maximum at t=2447∈(0,3).
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