An irregular tetrahedron has a base that is an equilateral triangle with side length . Its lateral faces make angles of with the base. Find the height of the tetrahedron, and enter the value of .
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Let O A B C be the tetrahedron, A B C its base (the equilateral triangle), h = A D the required height, E the midpoint of A B and D F ⊥ B C .
The plane O E C is a plane of symmetry of the tetrahedron, hence D lies on C E . Moreover, by the Theorem of three perpendiculars, O F ⊥ B C and O E ⊥ A B .
Let O A B be the lateral face that makes the angle of 8 0 ∘ with the base. Then, ∠ O E D = 8 0 ∘ and ∠ O F D = 6 0 ∘ .
In △ O E D , a 1 = E D = h ⋅ cot 8 0 ∘ ( 1 )
In the equilateral △ A B C , the median C E is also angle bisector of ∠ A C B , hence, ∠ D C F = 3 0 ∘ , so the right triangles △ A D F and △ C D F are congruent.
Thus, a 2 : = D C = O F : = l 1 .
In △ O D F , D F = l 1 ⋅ cos 6 0 ∘ ⇒ D F = 2 l 1 ⇒ D F = 2 a 2 .
By Pythagoras’ theorem on △ O D F , O D 2 = O F 2 − D F 2 ⇒ h 2 = a 2 2 − ( 2 a 2 ) 2 ⇒ a 2 = 3 2 h ( 2 ) .
In the equilateral △ A B C we have A E = B C ⋅ 2 3 ⇒ A E = 5 3 ( 3 ) .
Combining ( 1 ) , ( 2 ) and ( 3 ) , we get C E = a 1 + a 2 ⇒ 5 3 = h ⋅ cot 8 0 ∘ + 3 2 h ⇒ h = 2 + 3 ⋅ cot 8 0 ∘ 1 5 ⇒ h ≈ 6 . 5 0 6 4 4 2 5 1
For the answer, ⌊ 1 0 0 0 h ⌋ = 6 5 0 6 .