In , is twice , and , and are midpoints of and respectively and point is the centroid of .
Let be the height of the tetrahedron above.
Find the (in degrees) that minimizes the triangular face when the volume is held constant.
Express the result to six decimal places.
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Using the law of sines ⟹ sin ( β ) sin ( 2 β ) = m − 2 m ⟹ cos ( β ) = 2 ( m − 2 ) m
Using the law of cosines with included ∠ B A C ⟹ m 2 − 4 m + 4 = m 2 − 2 m + 1 + m 2 − m − 2 m 2 ( m − 1 ) ⟹ m 2 − 7 m + 6 = 0 ⟹ ( m − 6 ) ( m − 1 ) = 0 m = 1 ⟹ m = 6 ⟹ A C = 6 a , A B = 5 a and B C = 4 a
cos ( β ) = 4 3 ⟹ B D = 4 5 a 7 a and A D = 4 1 5 a
Let A : ( 0 , 0 ) , C ( 6 a , 0 ) and Point B : ( 4 1 5 a , 4 5 a 7 a )
⟹ the midpoints of the sides are M 2 : ( 3 a , 0 ) , M 1 : ( 8 1 5 a , 8 5 7 a ) , M 3 ( 8 3 9 a , 8 5 7 a )
m C M 1 = − 3 3 5 7 ⟹ y = − 3 3 5 7 ( x − 6 a )
and,
m A M 3 = 3 9 5 7 ⟹ y = 3 9 5 7 x
Solving the two equations above ⟹ x = 4 1 3 a , y = 1 2 5 7 a ⟹
The centroid P ( 4 1 3 a , 1 2 5 7 a ) .and P M 2 = 6 4 6 a
Note: You could also have found the centroid of the triangle by taking an average of the three vertices.
A △ A B C = 4 1 5 7 a 2
Letting Q P = h ⟹ Q M 2 = 6 3 6 h 2 + 4 6 a 2 ⟹ A = A △ A Q C = 2 a 3 6 h 2 + 4 6 a 2
The volume V = 4 5 7 a 2 h = k ⟹ h = 5 7 a 2 4 k ⟹ A ( a ) = 1 0 7 a 5 7 6 k 2 + 8 0 5 0 a 6 ⟹ d a d A = 5 7 5 7 6 k 2 + 8 0 5 0 a 6 8 0 5 0 a 6 − 2 8 8 k 2 a 2 = 0 ⟹ a = ( 5 1 6 1 1 2 k ) 3 1 ⟹ h = ( 4 5 7 9 2 k ) 3 1
Let θ = m ∠ Q M 2 P ⟹ tan ( θ ) = 4 6 a 6 h = 2 ⟹ θ ≈ 5 4 . 7 3 5 6 1 0 ∘ .