Pointed Pointy Triangle (My bad sense of naming things)

Calculus Level 5

If the average distance from a point randomly selected in the unit equilateral triangle to its center equals ln ( a + b ) + a b c \frac{\ln(a+\sqrt{b})+a\sqrt{b}}{c} where a , b a,b and c c are positive integers with b b being square-free. Find a + b + c a+b+c .


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The answer is 23.

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2 solutions

Andy Hayes
Sep 27, 2015

Let the unit triangle, Δ A B C \Delta ABC , be centered on the origin, O O . Let it be rotated such that point A A is located at ( 3 6 , 1 2 ) (\frac{\sqrt{3}}{6},\frac{1}{2}) , point B B is located at ( 3 6 , 1 2 ) (\frac{\sqrt{3}}{6}, -\frac{1}{2}) , and point C C is located at ( 3 3 , 0 ) (-\frac{\sqrt{3}}{3},0) . The right side of the triangle will be the line x = 3 6 x=\frac{\sqrt{3}}{6} . In polar form, this is r = 3 6 sec θ r=\frac{\sqrt{3}}{6}\sec{\theta} .

Now consider Δ O A B \Delta OAB bound by the lines θ = π 3 \theta=-\frac{\pi}{3} , θ = π 3 \theta=\frac{\pi}{3} , and r = 3 6 sec θ r=\frac{\sqrt{3}}{6}\sec{\theta} . The area of this triangle is B = 3 12 B=\frac{\sqrt{3}}{12} .

The distance from the origin to any point in Δ O A B \Delta OAB will be the value of r r for that point. Without loss of generality, we can conclude that the average distance from the origin to a point in Δ O A B \Delta OAB is the same as the average distance from the origin to any point in the unit triangle, Δ A B C \Delta ABC . We can calculate this average distance using the double integral:

1 B π 3 π 3 0 3 6 sec θ r d A \frac{1}{B}\int\limits_{-\frac{\pi}{3}}^{\frac{\pi}{3}}\int\limits_{0}^{\frac{\sqrt{3}}{6}\sec{\theta}}rdA

4 3 π 3 π 3 0 3 6 sec θ r 2 d r d θ 4\sqrt{3}\int\limits_{-\frac{\pi}{3}}^{\frac{\pi}{3}}\int\limits_{0}^{\frac{\sqrt{3}}{6}\sec{\theta}}r^2drd\theta

1 18 π 3 π 3 sec 3 θ d θ \frac{1}{18}\int\limits_{-\frac{\pi}{3}}^{\frac{\pi}{3}}\sec^3{\theta}d\theta

This evaluates to ln ( 2 + 3 ) + 2 3 18 \frac{\ln(2+\sqrt{3})+2\sqrt{3}}{18} .

a = 2 a=2 , b = 3 b=3 , and c = 18 c=18 . Therefore, a + b + c = 2 + 3 + 18 = 23 a+b+c=2+3+18=\boxed{23} .

I choose as the element of symmetry the half of triangle AOB - 1/6 of ABC. So the limits of integration were from 0 to Pi/3. The rest is identical. Nice solution!

M Dub - 5 years, 6 months ago
Yash Bhat
Sep 26, 2015

Let the triangle be ABC and O be the center. Let D be the midpoint of AB. The average distance of Points of traingle OAD from O would be equal to the average distance of points of ABC from O due to symmetry. OA = 1/root(3) Let's call it x. OD = 1/(2 (root(3))) Let's call it y. AD = 1/2 Let's call it z. Let u = (x+y)/z and v = (x-y)/c Formula: Average distance of all points of Triangle OAD from vertex O = (z/6) ( (u (1+(v^2))) + ((1/2) (1 - u^2) (1 - v^2) ln ( (u-1)/(u+1) ))) [Proof : http://www.mathpages.com/home/kmath283/kmath283.htm]

Therefore a = 2, b =3, c =18. My first solution. Yay!!

How can we claim that the avg distance in case of triange OAD and triangle ABC from pt O is same. I'm having this confusion because in case of OAD, O is a vertex while in ABC O is the center

Subrata Karmakar - 5 years, 8 months ago

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The average distance of pts from ABC to O would be average of average distance of the 6 small triangle OAD, OBD, OBE, OCE, OCF and OAF. Now all these six triangles are congruent. Think about it you''ll get it, if you don't comment,

Yash Bhat - 5 years, 6 months ago

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