(Corrected!) It's Triangles All the Way Down

What happens to a triangle when one constructs its incircle , then it's contact triangle , followed by another incircle, and so on? It eventually converges to a point. Find that point, P P , for the 13-14-15 triangle shown in the figure, and submit the length of P M PM as 1 0 4 P M . \lfloor{10^4\cdot{PM}}\rfloor.

Extra Credit: I would love to find an analytical solution for the general problem. However, I don't know how to do that, and I have asked for help here if you care to take a look.


The answer is 39498.

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1 solution

Aryan Sanghi
Dec 17, 2020

Explanation

Let's solve it using complex number geometry.

Now, let the coordinates of triangle be z 1 , z 2 , z 3 z_1, z_2, z_3 and the side lengths be a , b , c a, b, c and semi-perimeter be s s

Now, let coordinates of contact triangle be z 1 , z 2 , z 3 z_1', z_2', z_3'

Now, z 1 z_1' divides side joining z 2 z_2 and z 3 z_3 in ratio s b : s c s-b:s-c .

So,

z 1 = z 2 ( s c ) + z 3 ( s b ) 2 s b c z_1' = \frac{z_2(s-c) + z_3(s-b)}{2s - b - c}

Similarly

z 2 = z 1 ( s c ) + z 3 ( s a ) 2 s a c z_2' = \frac{z_1(s-c) + z_3(s-a)}{2s - a - c}

z 3 = z 2 ( s a ) + z 1 ( s b ) 2 s a b z_3' = \frac{z_2(s-a) + z_1(s-b)}{2s - a - b}

So, now we have recurrence relation between coordinates of triangle and coordinates of contact triangle, let us write the code to find the coordinates of the points of triangle when all three vertices coincide

For above question, we have z 1 = 0 + 0 i , z 2 = 14 + 0 i , z 3 = 5 + 12 i z_1 = 0 + 0i, z_2 = 14 + 0i, z_3 = 5+12i

Code

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z1= 0+0j
z2 = 14+0j
z3 = 5+12j

i = 0

while i <= 54:
    a, b, c = abs(z2 - z3), abs(z3-z1), abs(z1-z2) #lengths of sides
    s = (a+b+c)/2 #semi-perimeter

    z1, z2, z3 = ((s-c)*z2+ (s-b)*z3)/(2*s-b-c), ((s-a)*z3+ (s-c)*z1)/(2*s-a-c), ((s-a)*z2 + (s-b)*z1)/(2*s-b-a) #reassigning vertices to that of contact triangle

    i += 1

print(z1, z2, z3)

Output

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Output:

(5.6715323176778805+3.949803841058493j)
(5.6715323176778805+3.949803841058493j)
(5.6715323176778805+3.949803841058493j)

Answer

So, P = 5.67153 + 3.94980 i , P M = Im ( P ) = 3.94980 P = 5.67153+3.94980i, PM = \text{Im}(P) = 3.94980

1 0 4 × P M = 39498 \color{#3D99F6}{\boxed{\lfloor 10^4 × PM \rfloor = 39498}}

@Fletcher Mattox sir, is this the method you were asking😅?

Aryan Sanghi - 5 months, 3 weeks ago

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Not really, but it is a brilliant solution, nonetheless. I keep forgetting how much simpler (and more elegant) complex analysis makes some geometry problems. Thank you for reminding me! Your next assignment, should you choose to accept it :), is to find generalised trilinear coordinates of this point for an arbitrary triangle.

Fletcher Mattox - 5 months, 3 weeks ago

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I'll try to do it sir. :)

Aryan Sanghi - 5 months, 3 weeks ago

@Fletcher Mattox Also sir, you should tell P M PM is perpendicular to A B AB and final answer should be 1 0 4 × P M \lfloor 10^4×PM \rfloor and not 1 0 5 × P M \lfloor 10^5 × PM \rfloor . :)

Aryan Sanghi - 5 months, 3 weeks ago

Sheesh! I'm senile. How did you get the correct answer in three tries? I wonder how many people have wasted time on this problem? I should take it down.

Fletcher Mattox - 5 months, 3 weeks ago


We can to create Geogebra tool - 20 iterations.

Yuriy Kazakov - 5 months, 1 week ago

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