Geometry with a Square

Geometry Level 3

Let M M be an arbitrary point inside a unit square A B C D ABCD . Consider points P , Q , R P, Q, R defined as points of intersection of medians of A B M , B C M , C D M \triangle ABM, \triangle BCM, \triangle CDM . The length of the segment between P P and midpoint of Q R QR can be expressed as a b c \frac{a \sqrt{b}}{c} , find a + b + c a + b + c .


The answer is 17.

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2 solutions

Ahmad Saad
Dec 24, 2015

Shaun Leong
Dec 24, 2015

Images from https://app.geogebra.org/#geometry

Since P,Q and R are the intersections of medians, they are the centroids of A B M \triangle ABM , B C M \triangle BCM and C D M \triangle CDM .

For clearer illustration, I have drawn 2 squares, square X on the left and square Y on the right.

A property of centroids is that the distance from a vertex to the centroid is 2 3 \frac {2}{3} the length of the median.

Let J be the midpoint of MB and K be the midpoint of MC.

In square X, P J Q A J C \triangle PJQ \sim \triangle AJC so P Q A C PQ \| AC and P Q = 1 3 A C = 2 3 PQ = \frac {1}{3} AC = \frac {\sqrt{2}} {3}

Similarly, in square Y, Q K R B K D \triangle QKR \sim \triangle BKD so Q R B D QR \| BD and Q R = 1 3 B D = 2 3 QR = \frac {1}{3} BD = \frac {\sqrt{2}} {3}

Also, AC and BD are perpendicular. Since P Q A C PQ \| AC and Q R B D QR \| BD , we see that P Q R = 9 0 \angle PQR = 90 ^ \circ .

Direct application of Pythagorean Theorem gives D i s t a n c e = ( 2 6 ) 2 + ( 2 3 ) 2 = 1 10 6 Distance = \sqrt {(\frac {\sqrt {2}}{6})^2 + (\frac {\sqrt {2}}{3})^2} = \frac {1*\sqrt {10}}{6}

a + b + c = 1 + 10 + 6 = 17 \Rightarrow a+b+c = 1+10+6 =\boxed {17}

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