Midpoints save the Day!

Geometry Level 1

If the midpoints of the sides A B AB and A C AC of triangle A B C ABC are ( 3 , 5 ) (3,5) and ( 3 , 3 ) (-3,-3) respectively, then find the length of B C BC .

10 20 44 52

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3 solutions

Rico Lee
May 21, 2016

This is a simple English answer haha.

It is given that the coordinates are midpoints of the line. This is a major clue.

Imagine a 2nd triangle formed by these midpoints. That is, draw a line (a hypotenuse) with (3,5) as start and (-3,-3) as end. The two triangles are similar in size (you can do the proving for me lol).

As the coordinates are midpoints, then the lengths of the 2nd triangle are half the lengths of AC and AB. This means, the hypotenuse of the 2nd triangle is also half the length of BC.

Using the distance formula, you can calculate that the distance between the midpoints is 10 units. Therefore, BC is twice the length of 10 which gives the final answer of 20 units. BC=20

Hana Wehbi
May 20, 2016

x A + x B 2 \frac{x_A+x_B}{2} = 3 3 ; by definition of midpoint. \implies x B = 6 x A x_B= 6-x_A

x A + x C 2 \frac{x_A+x_C}{2} = 3 -3 ; by definition of midpoint \implies x c = 6 x A x_c=- 6-x_A

y A + y B 2 \frac{y_A+y_B}{2} = 5 5 ; by definition of midpoint \implies y B = 10 y A y_B= 10-y_A

y A + y C 2 \frac{y_A+y_C}{2} = 3 -3 ; by definition of midpoint \implies y C = 6 y A y_C= -6-y_A

Thus: || B C BC || = ( x C x B ) 2 + ( y C y B ) 2 ) \sqrt{(x_C-x_B)^{2}+(y_C-y_B)^{2})} = ( 6 + 6 ) 2 + ( 10 + 6 ) 2 ) \sqrt{(6+6)^{2}+(10+6)^{2})} = 20 20

Keerthi Reddy
May 11, 2016

Let A,B,C be the vertices of the triangle and let the coordinates of A,B,C be (x1,y1), (x2, y2),(x3, y3) respectively. Applying midpiont theorm, Then (x1+x2)/2=3 which implies x1+x2=6--------(i)
(x1+x3)/2=-3 which implies x1+x3=-6--------(ii)
solving i and ii
x3-x2=12----------(I)


similarly,
(y1+y2)/2=5 which implies y1+y2=10------(i)
(y1+y3)/2=-3 which implies y1+y3=-6--------(ii)
solving (i) and (ii)
y3-y2=16--------------(II)

length of BC= root of (x3-x2)^2+(y3-y2)^2
which is 20 units

Moderator note:

Can you find the 1-line solution to this problem?

Hint: How does the length of BC relate to the length between the midpoints?

@Keerthi Reddy I've converted your comment in the report forum into an actual solution.

Calvin Lin Staff - 5 years, 1 month ago

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