A Lonely Point Outside the Square Becomes an Identity!

Geometry Level 3

The diagram above shows a square A B C D ABCD with E E as a random point outside the square. Is it true that A E 2 + E C 2 = B E 2 + D E 2 AE^2 + EC^2 = BE^2 + DE^2 ?


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Not true It depends on the length of each term in the expression True

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1 solution

Fidel Simanjuntak
Feb 11, 2017

E F C E F 2 + F C 2 = E C 2 ( 1 ) \triangle EFC \Rightarrow EF^2 + FC^2 = EC^2 \space \cdots (1) .

A E G A G 2 + E G 2 = A E 2 ( 2 ) \triangle AEG \Rightarrow AG^2 + EG^2 = AE^2 \space \cdots (2) .

( 1 ) + ( 2 ) A E 2 + E C 2 = A G 2 + E G 2 + E F 2 + F C 2 ( 3 ) (1) + (2) \Rightarrow AE^2 + EC^2 = AG^2 + EG^2 + EF^2 + FC^2 \space \cdots (3) .

B F E B F 2 + E F 2 = B E 2 ( 4 ) \triangle BFE \Rightarrow BF^2 + EF^2 = BE^2 \space \cdots (4) .

D E G E G 2 + D G 2 = D E 2 ( 5 ) \triangle DEG \Rightarrow EG^2 + DG^2 = DE^2 \space \cdots (5) .

( 4 ) + ( 5 ) D E 2 + B E 2 = E G 2 + D G 2 + B F 2 + E F 2 ( 6 ) (4) + (5) \Rightarrow DE^2 + BE^2 = EG^2 + DG^2 + BF^2 + EF^2 \space \cdots (6) .

By the figure, we know that A G = B F , F C = D G AG= BF, \space FC = DG , then we can rewrite the equation ( 3 ) (3) into A E 2 + E C 2 = B F 2 + E G 2 + E F 2 + D G 2 ( 7 ) AE^2 + EC^2 = BF^2 + EG^2 + EF^2 + DG^2 \space \cdots (7) .

We can clearly see that ( 7 ) = ( 6 ) (7) = (6) , hence it is True \color{#3D99F6} \boxed{ \color{#D61F06} \text{True}} .

Nice proof. The British Flag Theorem does indeed apply to points outside the rectangle, (in this case square), as well.

Brian Charlesworth - 4 years, 3 months ago

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Thank you. I am wondering if there's a random point inside/outside a cyclic quadrilateral, does British Flag Theorem work?

Fidel Simanjuntak - 4 years, 3 months ago

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Only if the cyclic quadrilateral is a rectangle. However, it does work for a rectangle and any point in R 3 \mathbb{R^{3}} .

Brian Charlesworth - 4 years, 3 months ago

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@Brian Charlesworth I am sorry, but i dont understand what are you saying about "any point in R 3 \mathbb{R^3} ". Can you specify the meaning of R 3 \mathbb{R^3} ?

Fidel Simanjuntak - 4 years, 3 months ago

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@Fidel Simanjuntak R 3 \mathbb{R^{3}} is just shorthand for three dimensional Euclidean space .

Brian Charlesworth - 4 years, 3 months ago

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@Brian Charlesworth Oh, i see now.. Thank you sir..

Fidel Simanjuntak - 4 years, 3 months ago

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