A regular -gonal truncated pyramid is circumscribed around a sphere. Denote the areas of the base and the lateral surfaces of the pyramid by , and , respectively. Let be the area of the polygon whose vertices are the tangential points of the sphere and the lateral faces of the pyramid. Prove that
Problem 1815
Official solution
1. Define the geometric elements:
- Let and be the incircles of the bases of the truncated pyramid, with .
- Let be the circumcircle of the regular -gon whose vertices are the tangency points of the sphere with the lateral faces.
- These circles are cross sections of a right cone with apex circumscribed around .
2. Consider a plane through the axis of the cone:
- This plane cuts into a circle and the bases and into segments and respectively.
- The quadrilateral is an isosceles trapezoid with incircle .
3. **Determine the length :**
- If touches and at and respectively, then , , and .
- Using the formula for the length of the segment in terms of the other segments:
Substituting the values, we get:
Simplifying, we find:
4. Calculate the areas of the polygons:
- The area of the polygon whose vertices are the tangential points of the sphere and the lateral faces of the pyramid is given by:
- The area of the base with incircle is:
- The area of the base with incircle is:
- Therefore, the product is:
5. **Calculate the lateral surface area :**
- The lateral faces of the truncated pyramid are congruent isosceles trapezoids with altitude and bases equal to the sides of the -gons with incircles and .
- Therefore, the lateral surface area is:
6. **Substitute , , and into :**
- Using the expression for :
- Substitute into the formula for :
- Simplify:
7. Combine the expressions:
- Substitute and into the desired equation:
- Simplify to get:
The final answer is