What is the maximum possible area of a quadrilateral with sides 1 , 4 , 7 and 8 ?
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Using Bretschneider's formula ,
( s − a ) ( s − b ) ( s − c ) ( s − d ) − a b c d cos 2 ( 2 α + γ )
Here α and γ are two opposite angles of the quadrilateral.
For the area to be maximum,
a b c d cos 2 ( 2 α + γ )
This expression must be minimum and only in a cyclic quadrilateral opposite angle's sum is 1 8 0 ∘ . Therefore,
a b c d cos 2 ( 2 α + γ ) = 0
And the area is thus maximum for cyclic quadrilateral.
I thought this must be provided to make solution complete.
If two sides of a triangle are of the lengths given, then the triangle has maximum area when the two sides are at right angles. If the sides have lengths 7 and 4 , then the maximum area is 1 4 and the hypotenuse is of length 6 5 . If the sides have lengths 8 and 1 , then the maximum area is 4 and the hypotenuse is also of length 6 5 . We can put the hypotenuses together to make a quadrilateral. The quadrilateral will have a maximum area of 1 4 + 4 = 1 8 .
You seem to be making the assumption that the order of sides are 1, 4, 7, 8 in that order. How you do you know that there isn't a quadrilateral with larger area, whose sides are (in order) 1, 4, 8, 7 ?
How can we generalize this approach to any 4 lengths? What if we do not get a 2 + b 2 = c 2 + d 2 ?
The numbers do not have to be in that order. The numbers can be on any side of the quadrilateral.
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Given the four sides of a quadrilateral, it's the cyclic quadrilateral that has the maximum area. Use Brahmagupta's formula to compute the area of the cyclic quadrilateral, i.e. if s = 2 1 ( a + b + c + d ) , then
A r e a = ( s − a ) ( s − b ) ( s − c ) ( s − d )
Edit: Order of the sides does not matter for the area of a cyclic quadrilateral.