In regular pentagon A B C D E , point M is the midpoint of side A E .
If line segments A C and B M intersect at point Z and Z A = 3 , what is the length of A B ?
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Very nice construction of P . What motivated that?
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I could see that AB and Ce were parallel and hence went to extend for similarity.
Let the side length of the regular pentagon A B C D E be a . By sine rule , we have:
A M sin ∠ A B M 2 a sin ∠ A B M 2 sin θ 2 sin θ 2 sin θ tan θ = A B sin ∠ A M B = a sin ( 1 8 0 ∘ − ∠ E A B − ∠ A B M ) = sin ( 1 8 0 ∘ − 1 0 8 ∘ − θ ) = sin ( 7 2 ∘ − θ ) = sin 7 2 ∘ cos θ − sin θ cos 7 2 ∘ = 2 + cos 7 2 ∘ sin 7 2 ∘ Let ∠ A B M = θ
By sine rule again,
A Z sin ∠ A B M 3 sin θ a sin θ a sin θ tan θ = A B sin ∠ A Z B = a sin ( 1 8 0 ∘ − 3 6 ∘ − θ ) = 3 sin ( 3 6 ∘ + θ ) = 3 sin 3 6 ∘ cos θ + 3 sin θ cos 3 6 ∘ = a − 3 cos 3 6 ∘ 3 sin 3 6 ∘
Therefore,
⟹ a − 3 cos 3 6 ∘ 3 sin 3 6 ∘ 3 sin 3 6 ∘ a − 3 cos 3 6 ∘ 3 a − 3 cos 3 6 ∘ ⟹ a = 2 + cos 7 2 ∘ sin 7 2 ∘ = sin 7 2 ∘ 2 + cos 7 2 ∘ = 2 cos 3 6 ∘ 2 + 2 cos 2 3 6 ∘ − 1 = 2 cos 3 6 ∘ 3 + 6 cos 2 3 6 ∘ + 3 cos 3 6 ∘ = 2 cos 3 6 ∘ 3 + 6 cos 3 6 ∘ See Note. = 2 ( 4 1 + 5 ) 3 + 6 ( 4 1 + 5 ) = 2 3 ( 1 + 5 4 + 1 + 5 ) = 3 5
Note: Using the identity below:
cos 5 π + cos 5 3 π 2 cos 5 π + 2 cos 5 3 π 2 cos 5 π − 2 cos 5 2 π 2 cos 5 π − 4 cos 2 5 π + 2 4 cos 2 5 π − 2 cos 5 π − 1 ⟹ cos 5 π = 2 1 = 1 = 1 = 1 = 0 = 4 1 + 5
Let [ X Y Z ] be the area of triangle △ X Y Z . We have ∠ Z A B = 3 6 ∘ , ∠ M A Z = 7 2 ∘ and [ A B M ] = [ A B Z ] + [ A Z M ] . Let A B = x , then: 2 x ⋅ 2 x sin 1 0 8 ∘ = 2 3 x sin 3 6 ∘ + 2 3 ⋅ 2 x sin 7 2 ∘ Solve for x , using the identity sin 1 0 8 ∘ = sin 7 2 ∘ : x = 3 ( sin 7 2 ∘ 2 sin 3 6 ∘ + sin 7 2 ∘ ) x = 3 ( 2 sin 3 6 ∘ cos 3 6 ∘ 2 sin 3 6 ∘ + 1 ) x = 3 ( cos 3 6 ∘ 1 + 1 ) x = 3 ( 5 − 1 + 1 ) x = 3 5
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Claim: ∣ C E ∣ = φ × x .
Proof: We will apply Ptolemy's Theorem:
Inscribe a regular pentagon A B C D E inside a circle. WLOG, let its side length be 1 . If we let the length of the diagonal be x , then using Ptolemy's Theorem on ABCD tells us that x 2 = x + 1 . Using the quadratic formula and taking the positive root tells us that x = 2 1 + 5 = ϕ . Therefore, the length of the diagonal is ϕ multiplied by the side length.
Note that △ A M B ≅ △ E M P by A S A , hence ∣ E P ∣ = ∣ A B ∣ = x .
Now note that △ B Z A ∼ △ P Z C by A A A and ∣ A B ∣ = x while ∣ C P ∣ = ∣ C E ∣ + ∣ E P ∣ = ( 1 + φ ) ( x ) .
It follows that ∣ C Z ∣ = ( 1 + φ ) ∣ A Z ∣ = 3 + 3 φ . Hence ∣ A C ∣ = 6 + 3 φ and ∣ A B ∣ = φ ∣ A C ∣ = φ 6 + 3 φ = 3 5 .