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Problem 1398

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Geometry Difficulty 5.7 Prove it The Problems of Ukrainian Authors · Ukraine

All the diagonals of the lateral faces of an nn-sided prism are colored in yellow and blue colors, so that single-colored diagonals do not have common points. Prove that the sum of the squares of lengths of all yellow diagonals is equal to the sum of the squares of lengths of the blue ones.
(Oleg Kryzhanovsky.)

This one wants a proof. Work it on paper, then read the official solution and mark yourself. Be honest about it: the record is only any use to you if it is.

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Official solution

Figure 1
Fig. 50
According to the condition, single-colored diagonals don't have common points. That's why without loss of generality let's consider that the following diagonals are colored in blue: B1A2,B2A3,,Bn1An,BnA1B_1A_2, B_2A_3, \ldots, B_{n-1}A_n, B_nA_1, the others are colored in yellow. As B1A2=h+A1A2\overrightarrow{B_1A_2} = \vec{h} + \overrightarrow{A_1A_2}, so (B1A2)2=(h)2+(A1A2)2+2hA1A2(\overrightarrow{B_1A_2})^2 = (\vec{h})^2 + (\overrightarrow{A_1A_2})^2 + 2 \cdot \vec{h} \cdot \overrightarrow{A_1A_2}. Similarly, (B2A3)2=(h)2+(A2A3)2+2hA2A3,,(Bn1An)2=(h)2+(An1An)2+2hAn1An(\overrightarrow{B_2A_3})^2 = (\vec{h})^2 + (\overrightarrow{A_2A_3})^2 + 2 \cdot \vec{h} \cdot \overrightarrow{A_2A_3}, \ldots, (\overrightarrow{B_{n-1}A_n})^2 = (\vec{h})^2 + (\overrightarrow{A_{n-1}A_n})^2 + 2 \cdot \vec{h} \cdot \overrightarrow{A_{n-1}A_n}. Let's sum up our equalities:

B1A22++BnA12=(B1A2)2++(BnA1)2==n(h)2+(A1A2)2++(AnA1)2+2h(A1A2++AnA1)=nh2+A1A22++AnA12 \begin{aligned} B_1 A_2^2 + \dots + B_n A_1^2 &= (\overrightarrow{B_1 A_2})^2 + \dots + (\overrightarrow{B_n A_1})^2 = \\ &= n(\vec{h})^2 + (\overrightarrow{A_1 A_2})^2 + \dots + (\overrightarrow{A_n A_1})^2 + 2 \cdot \vec{h} \cdot (\overrightarrow{A_1 A_2} + \dots + \overrightarrow{A_n A_1}) = nh^2 + A_1 A_2^2 + \dots + A_n A_1^2 \end{aligned}
If you make similar calculations for yellow diagonals, then you'll get the same expression.
What was to be demonstrated.

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