GeometryDifficulty 7.0National Olympiad, round 2Find the answer
Let A,B,C,D denote four points in space such that at most one of the distances AB,AC,AD,BC,BD,CD is greater than 1 . Determine the maximum value of the sum of the six distances.
A number or a short expression. Fractions can be typed as 3/2, and spacing doesn't matter.
Solution
Suppose that AB is the length that is more than 1 . Let spheres with radius 1 around A and B be SA and SB . C and D must be in the intersection of these spheres, and they must be on the circle created by the intersection to maximize the distance. We have AC+BC+AD+BD=4 . In fact, CD must be a diameter of the circle. This maximizes the five lengths AC , BC , AD , BD , and CD . Thus, quadrilateral ACBD is a rhombus. Suppose that ∠CAD=2θ . Then, AB+CD=2sinθ+2cosθ . To maximize this, we must maximize sinθ+cosθ on the range 0∘ to 90∘ . However, note that we really only have to solve this problem on the range 0∘ to 45∘ , since θ>45 is just a symmetrical function. For θ<45 , sinθ≤cosθ . We know that the derivative of sinθ is cosθ , and the derivative of cosθ is −sinθ . Thus, the derivative of sinθ+cosθ is cosθ−sinθ , which is nonnegative between 0∘ and 45∘ . Thus, we can conclude that this is an increasing function on this range. It must be true that 2sinθ≤1 , so θ≤30∘ . But, because sinθ+cosθ is increasing, it is maximized at θ=30∘ . Thus, AB=3 , CD=1 , and our sum is 5+3 . ~mathboy100
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