A triangle has its vertices at A ( 0 , 2 0 ) , B ( − 1 0 , 0 ) , and C ( 2 0 , 0 ) , as shown in the figure above. An ellipse can be inscribed in △ A B C such that it is tangent at the three midpoints of the sides.
If F 1 and F 2 are the ellipse foci, then ∣ F 1 F 2 ∣ 2 = C A B , where A and C are positive coprime integers and B is square-free. Find A + B + C .
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Such an ellipse is called Steiner inellipse and its semi-major and semi-minor axes are given by:
a s , b s = 6 1 a 2 + b 2 + c 2 ± 2 Z
where a , b , and c are the side lengths of the triangle and Z = a 2 + b 2 + c 2 − a 2 b 2 − b 2 c 2 − c 2 a 2 .
From A ( 0 , 2 0 ) , B (-10,0)), and C ( 2 0 , 0 ) , we have a 2 = 9 0 0 , b 2 = 8 0 0 , c 2 = 5 0 0 , Z = 1 0 0 1 3 , and a 2 , b s = 6 2 2 0 0 ± 2 0 0 1 3 . Then we have:
∣ F 1 F 2 ∣ ∣ F 1 F 2 ∣ 2 = 2 a s 2 − b s 2 = 4 ( a s 2 − b s 2 ) = 4 × 3 6 2 2 0 0 + 2 0 0 1 3 − 2 2 0 0 + 2 0 0 1 3 = 9 4 0 0 1 3
Therefore, A + B + C = 4 0 0 + 1 3 + 9 = 4 2 2 .
Can you derive the formulae you mentioned?
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I would not like to. If you want to try, I would suggest to consider the sum of distances of the three midpoints from the two foci are the same, which is 2 a , where a is the semi-major axis. Let the coordinates of the two foci be x 1 . y 1 and x 2 , y 2 . Then we will have three equations for four unknowns but we have the additional fact that the center of the ellipse is the midpoint between the two foci.
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Marden's theorem
f ( z ) = ( z − z A ) ( z − z B ) ( z − z C )
f ′ ( z ) = ( ( z − 2 0 − 0 i ) ( z + 1 0 + 0 i ) ( z − 2 0 i ) ) ′ = 0
3 z 2 − ( 2 0 + 4 0 i ) z − ( 2 0 0 − 2 0 0 i ) = 0
F 1 = 3 1 0 ( ( 1 + 2 i ) + 3 − 2 i )
F 2 = − 3 1 0 ( ( − 1 − 2 i ) + 3 − 2 i
∣ ∣ 3 1 0 ( ( 1 + 2 i ) + 3 − 2 i ) + 3 1 0 ( ( − 1 − 2 i ) + 3 − 2 i ) ∣ 2 = 9 4 0 0 1 3