Again Not the Deathly Hallows Symbol

Geometry Level 5

As shown above, one ellipse and one circle are arranged in an equilateral triangle. There exists the unique value of eccentricity e > 0 e > 0 such that:

  • The horizontally-positioned ellipse whose major axis is parallel to one of the three legs shares three points of tangency with the triangle and one point of tangency with the circle.
  • The circle tangent to the triangle at two points has the same area as the ellipse.

Input 1 0 6 e \lfloor 10^6 e\rfloor as your answer.


The answer is 968245.

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1 solution

Mark Hennings
Feb 19, 2021

If the radius of the circle is r r and the semimajor and semiminor axes of the ellipse are a , b a,b , then r 2 = a b r^2 = ab and the ellipse

x 2 a 2 + ( y b ) 2 b 2 = 1 \frac{x^2}{a^2} + \frac{(y-b)^2}{b^2} \; = \; 1 must be tangent to the two lines y = 3 r + 2 b ± x 3 y = 3r +2b \pm x\sqrt{3} , and hence 3 a 2 + b 2 = ( 3 r + b ) 2 3 a 2 = 9 r 2 + 6 r b a 2 = 3 a b + 2 b a b \begin{aligned} 3a^2 + b^2 & = \; (3r + b)^2 \\ 3a^2 & = \; 9r^2 + 6rb \\ a^2 & = \; 3ab + 2b\sqrt{ab} \end{aligned} so that ( 1 3 u ) 2 = 4 u 3 (1 - 3u)^2 = 4u^3 where u = b a u = \tfrac{b}{a} . Thus we deduce that u = 1 4 u=\tfrac14 (the other solution u = 1 u=1 may be a solution of this last equation, but the corresponding b = a b=a is not a solution of the previous equation - squaring an equation can create bogus solutions). Thus the eccentricity is e = 1 u 2 = 1 4 15 e = \sqrt{1-u^2} = \tfrac14\sqrt{15} , which makes the answer 968245 \boxed{968245} .

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