Regular hexagon

Geometry Level 1

Shown to the right is a regular hexagon.

Which region has a greater area?

Red region Blue region They have equal areas

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5 solutions

A n o t h e r s o l u t i o n : Another solution:

Let x x be the side length of the regular hexagon. Then the area of the three blue isosceles triangles is A b l u e = 3 ( 1 2 ) ( x 2 ) ( sin 120 ) = 3 2 ( x 2 ) ( 3 2 ) = 3 4 x 2 3 A_{blue}=3\left(\dfrac{1}{2}\right)(x^2)(\sin 120)=\dfrac{3}{2}(x^2)\left(\dfrac{\sqrt{3}}{2}\right)=\dfrac{3}{4}x^2\sqrt{3} .

Now the area of a regular hexagon is given by A h e x a g o n = 3 2 3 x 2 A_{hexagon}=\dfrac{3}{2}\sqrt{3}x^2 .

So the area of the red region is

A r e d = A h e x a g o n A b l u e = 3 2 3 x 2 3 4 3 x 2 = 3 4 x 2 3 A_{red}=A_{hexagon}-A_{blue}=\dfrac{3}{2}\sqrt{3} x^2-\dfrac{3}{4}\sqrt{3}x^2=\dfrac{3}{4}x^2\sqrt{3}

Hence, the areas are equal.

👍 Yes. It's great

Anas Kudsi - 3 years, 7 months ago
Hunter Edwards
Oct 31, 2017

Draw lines equal in length to the lines creating the red triangle, and observe:

From this we find that the original lines divide the three parallelograms to create the hexagon in half, by bisecting the shapes. Because 1 / 2 + 1 / 2 = 1 1/2+1/2=1 , we know that the two colored divisions are equal.

A h e x a g o n = 3 2 3 x 2 A_{hexagon}=\dfrac{3}{2}\sqrt{3}x^2

Now, length of side of red triangle = s = 3 x \sqrt{3}{x} (twice the height of one of the six smaller equilateral triangles in diagram above)

Height of red triangle = h:
( 3 x 2 ) 2 + h 2 = 3 x \therefore\sqrt{{\left(\dfrac{\sqrt{3}{x}}{2}\right)}^{2}+{h^2}}=\sqrt{3}{x}

3 x 2 4 + h 2 = 3 x 2 \therefore\dfrac{3x^2}{4}+{h^2}={3x^2}

h 2 = 3 x 2 3 x 2 4 \therefore{h^2} = {3x^2} - \dfrac{3x^2}{4} h 2 = 9 x 2 4 \therefore{h^2} = \dfrac{9x^2}{4} h = 3 x 2 \therefore{h} = \dfrac{3x}{2}

A r e d = s 2 h = 3 x 2 3 x 2 = 3 4 3 x 2 = A h e x a g o n 2 A_{red} = \dfrac{s}{2}{h} = \dfrac{\sqrt{3}{x}}{2}\dfrac{{3x}}{2} = \dfrac{3}{4}\sqrt{3}x^2 = \dfrac{A_{hexagon}}{2}

A b l u e = A h e x a g o n A r e d = A h e x a g o n 2 {A_{blue}} = A_{hexagon}-A_{red} = \dfrac{A_{hexagon}}{2} A r e d = A b l u e \therefore{A_{red}} = A_{blue}

Gregory Lewis
Nov 1, 2017

Fold the blue triangles into the center. Since the hexagon angles are 120° and the triangle angles are 60°, they'll fit perfectly.

Edwin Gray
Nov 1, 2017

Let s be the side of the hexagon, and d be the chord joining every other vertex, The angle formed by adjacent hexagon sides, t = 4 180/6 = 120. The area of the blue part = 3 (1/2)s^2 sin(120) =[3 sqrt(3)/4] s^2. By the law of cosines, d^2 = s^2 + s^2 -2 s^2 cos(120) = 3s^2 The red area is an equilateral triangle with area = sqrt(3)/4 d^2 =[3 sqrt(3)/4] s^2, so they are equal. Ed Gray

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