Are they equal

Geometry Level 2

The figure shows a regular grid.

Are the colored angles equal?

No, the red angle is bigger Yes, they are equal No, the blue angle is bigger

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2 solutions

Maria Kozlowska
Aug 11, 2017

Both triangles lie on two congruent circles. By the inscribed angle theorem the angles are equal.

Marco Brezzi
Aug 6, 2017

We can express the blue angle as β = tan 1 ( 1 3 ) \beta=\tan^{-1}\left(\dfrac{1}{3}\right)

And the red angle α \alpha as the difference between α 1 = tan 1 1 \alpha_1=\tan^{-1}1 and α 2 = tan 1 ( 1 2 ) \alpha_2=\tan^{-1}\left(\dfrac{1}{2}\right)

Since tan ( x ) \tan(x) is strictly increasing in the interval [ 0 , 2 π ) [0,2\pi) , we can compare tan α \tan\alpha and tan β \tan\beta instead

tan α = tan ( α 1 α 2 ) = tan α 1 tan α 2 1 + tan α 1 tan α 2 = 1 1 2 1 + 1 2 = 1 3 = tan β \tan\alpha=\tan(\alpha_1-\alpha_2)=\dfrac{\tan\alpha_1-\tan\alpha_2}{1+\tan\alpha_1\cdot\tan\alpha_2}=\dfrac{1-\frac{1}{2}}{1+\frac{1}{2}}=\dfrac{1}{3}=\tan\beta

Since tan ( x ) \tan(x) is injective in the interval [ 0 , 2 π ) [0,2\pi) , this implies α = β \boxed{\alpha=\beta}

Is there a way to see this without trigo?

Calvin Lin Staff - 3 years, 10 months ago

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. .

Yes, we just need to prove that the right triangles A B C ABC and D E F DEF are similar, which is fairly easy, since

B C A C = 1 2 2 3 2 2 = 1 3 = D E E F \dfrac{BC}{AC}=\dfrac{\frac{1}{2}\sqrt{2}}{\frac{3}{2}\sqrt{2}}=\dfrac{1}{3}=\dfrac{DE}{EF}

Marco Brezzi - 3 years, 10 months ago

Yes, there is! I will write a solution as soon as it is possible. (Now I'm in a camp)

Áron Bán-Szabó - 3 years, 10 months ago

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