Points , , , , , , , , and are on a circle such that and . Which area is greater?
Bonus: Generalize a solution for any angle , where is a positive integer greater than .
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Draw I G and consider △ G H I . Let O be the center of the circle with a radius of 1 . Since ∠ G H I = 2 2 . 5 ° , central angle ∠ G O I = 4 5 ° . Draw the perpendicular bisector of G I at J , and draw H K ⊥ O J at K , and let x = ∠ H O I .
Then ∠ I O J = 2 2 . 5 ° , so that from △ I O J we have I J = sin 2 2 . 5 ° and O J = cos 2 2 . 5 ° , and from △ H O K we have O K = cos ( x + 2 2 . 5 ° ) . Therefore, J K = cos 2 2 . 5 ° − cos ( x + 2 2 . 5 ° ) and G I = 2 sin 2 2 . 5 ° , so that △ G H I has an area of A △ G H I = 2 1 ⋅ G I ⋅ J K = sin 2 2 . 5 ° ( cos 2 2 . 5 ° − cos ( x + 2 2 . 5 ° ) ) .
Since inscribed angles ∠ A B C = ∠ B C D = ∠ C D E = ∠ D E F = ∠ E F G = ∠ F G H = 2 2 . 5 ° , central angles ∠ A O C = ∠ B O D = ∠ C O E = ∠ D O F = ∠ E O G = ∠ F O H = 4 5 ° . Then by a similar method from above, A △ E F G = sin 2 2 . 5 ° ( cos 2 2 . 5 ° − cos ( x + 2 2 . 5 ° + 9 0 ° ) ) , A △ C D E = sin 2 2 . 5 ° ( cos 2 2 . 5 ° − cos ( x + 2 2 . 5 ° + 1 8 0 ° ) ) , and A △ A B C = sin 2 2 . 5 ° ( cos 2 2 . 5 ° − cos ( x + 2 2 . 5 ° + 2 7 0 ° ) ) .
That means the sum of the areas of the red triangles is A = sin 2 2 . 5 ° ( cos 2 2 . 5 ° − cos ( x + 2 2 . 5 ° ) ) + sin 2 2 . 5 ° ( cos 2 2 . 5 ° − cos ( x + 2 2 . 5 ° + 9 0 ° ) ) + sin 2 2 . 5 ° ( cos 2 2 . 5 ° − cos ( x + 2 2 . 5 ° + 1 8 0 ° ) ) + sin 2 2 . 5 ° ( cos 2 2 . 5 ° − cos ( x + 2 2 . 5 ° + 2 7 0 ° ) ) = 4 sin 2 2 . 5 ° cos 2 2 . 5 ° , which is equivalent to the sum of the areas of congruent triangles △ A O C , △ C O E , △ E O G , and △ G O I , which means the red area is half the circle, which means the two areas are equal .
The solution above is for the specific case of inscribed angles of 4 9 0 ° = 2 2 . 5 ° where n = 4 . The same method can be used for a more general solution for inscribed angles of n 9 0 ° where n is a positive integer greater than 1 , to find that one set of same-colored triangles have an area sum of k = 0 ∑ n − 1 sin ( n 9 0 ° ) ( cos ( n 9 0 ° ) − cos ( n 9 0 ° + x + k n 1 8 0 ° ) ) = n sin ( n 9 0 ° ) cos ( n 9 0 ° ) , which is equivalent to the area of half a regular polygon with 2 n sides, to conclude that the two areas are equal for any integer n > 1 .