Find the orthocenter

Geometry Level 5

In the Cartesian plane, we have a triangle A B C ABC where A , B , C A,B,C whose coordinates are ( 1 , 2 , 3 ) , ( 5 , 3 , 1 ) , ( 3 , 4 , 5 ) (1,2,3) , (5,3,1) , (3,4,5) , respectively.

If the coordinate of the orthocenter of the triangle A B C ABC is ( x , y , z ) (x,y,z) , find 2 ( x 2 + y 2 + z 2 ) 2({x}^{2}+{y}^{2}+{z}^{2}) .


The answer is 55.

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1 solution

An equation for the plane through A A and perpendicular to B C = ( 2 , 1 , 4 ) \overrightarrow{BC}=(-2,1,4) is 2 x + y + 4 z = 12 -2x+y+4z =12 , while an equation for the plane through B B and perpendicular to A C = ( 2 , 2 , 2 ) \overrightarrow{AC}=(2,2,2) is x + y + z = 9 x+y+z =9 . As A B × A C = ( 6 , 12 , 6 ) \overrightarrow{AB} \times \overrightarrow{AC}=(6,-12,6) , the vector ( 1 , 2 , 1 ) (1,-2,1) is perpendicular to the triangle plane, hence an equation for this plane is x 2 y + z = 0 x-2y+z=0 . The linear system consisting of the three equations above yields the coordinates of the orthocenter. The (unique) solution is H = ( 5 / 2 , 3 , 7 / 2 ) H=(5/2,3,7/2) and then two times the squared distance of the orthocenter from the origin is 55 55 .

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