Fermat Triangle

Geometry Level 3

Find the perimeter of the triangle, A B C ABC , in which the Fermat Point , F F , is located distances of 3, 4, and 5 units from the triangle's vertices. Express the perimeter as a + b + c \sqrt a + \sqrt b + \sqrt c , where a , b , c a,b,c are integers, and submit a + b + c a+b+c .


The answer is 147.

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1 solution

First we notice that A B C \triangle ABC has no angle 120 \ge 120{}^\circ , otherwise, the Fermat Point would be the vertex of the obtuse angle. Consequently, the Fermat Point of A B C \triangle ABC is the 1st Isogonic Center of the triangle, i.e. the angles subtended by the sides of the triangle at F F are all equal, thus,

A F B = B F C = C F A = 120 \angle AFB=\angle BFC=\angle CFA=120{}^\circ

Using cosine rule on A F B \triangle AFB , B F C \triangle BFC and C F A \triangle CFA , we have

A B 2 = A F 2 + B F 2 2 A F B F cos ( A F B ) = 5 2 + 3 2 2 × 5 × 3 × ( 1 2 ) = 49 A B = 49 A{{B}^{2}}=A{{F}^{2}}+B{{F}^{2}}-2AF\cdot BF\cdot \cos (\angle AFB)={{5}^{2}}+{{3}^{2}}-2\times 5\times 3\times \left( -\dfrac{1}{2} \right)=49\Rightarrow AB=\sqrt{49}

B C 2 = B F 2 + C F 2 2 B F C F cos ( B F C ) = 3 2 + 4 2 2 × 3 × 4 × ( 1 2 ) = 37 B C = 37 B{{C}^{2}}=B{{F}^{2}}+C{{F}^{2}}-2BF\cdot CF\cdot \cos (\angle BFC)={{3}^{2}}+{{4}^{2}}-2\times 3\times 4\times \left( -\dfrac{1}{2} \right)=37\Rightarrow BC=\sqrt{37}

C A 2 = C F 2 + A F 2 2 C F A F cos ( C F A ) = 4 2 + 5 2 2 × 4 × 5 × ( 1 2 ) = 61 C A = 61 C{{A}^{2}}=C{{F}^{2}}+A{{F}^{2}}-2CF\cdot AF\cdot \cos (\angle CFA)={{4}^{2}}+{{5}^{2}}-2\times 4\times 5\times \left( -\dfrac{1}{2} \right)=61\Rightarrow CA=\sqrt{61}

Thus, the perimeter of A B C \triangle ABC is 49 + 37 + 61 \sqrt{49}+\sqrt{37}+\sqrt{61} .

For the answer, a = 49 a=49 , b = 37 b=37 , c = 61 c=61 , thus, a + b + c = 147 a+b+c=\boxed{147} .

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