Regular Tetrahedrons.

Level pending

Equilateral A E F \triangle{AEF} is inscribed in square A B C D ABCD with side length A B = 1 |\overline{AB}| = 1 as shown above.

A regular tetrahedron is formed using A E F \triangle{AEF} .

If the volume V T V_{T} of the regular tetrahedron can be expressed as V T = a a b ( a b ) b a V_{T} = \dfrac{a\sqrt{a}}{b}(a - \sqrt{b})^{\frac{b}{a}} , where a a and b b are coprime positive integers, find a + b a + b .


The answer is 5.

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1 solution

Rocco Dalto
Apr 3, 2020

a 2 + 1 = x 2 = 2 ( 1 a ) 2 a 2 + 1 = 2 4 a + 2 a 2 a 2 4 a + 1 = 0 a^2 + 1 = x^2 = 2(1 - a)^2 \implies a^2 + 1 = 2 - 4a + 2a^2 \implies a^2 - 4a + 1 = 0 \implies

a = 2 ± 3 a = 2 \pm \sqrt{3}

a = 2 + 3 1 a = 1 3 < 0 a = 2 + \sqrt{3} \implies 1 - a = -1 - \sqrt{3} < 0 \therefore drop a = 2 + 3 a = 2 + \sqrt{3} .

a = 2 3 x = 2 2 3 A A E F = 3 ( 2 3 ) = 2 3 3 a = 2 - \sqrt{3} \implies x = 2\sqrt{2 - \sqrt{3}} \implies A_{\triangle{AEF}} = \sqrt{3}(2 - \sqrt{3}) = 2\sqrt{3} - 3 .

h = x 2 x 2 3 = 2 3 x = 2 2 3 2 3 h = \sqrt{x^2 - \dfrac{x^2}{3}} = \sqrt{\dfrac{2}{3}}x = 2\sqrt{\dfrac{2}{3}}\sqrt{2 - \sqrt{3}} \implies

The volume of the regular tetrahedron V T = 1 3 ( 2 3 ) 3 ( 2 2 3 2 3 ) = V_{T} = \dfrac{1}{3}(2 - \sqrt{3})\sqrt{3}(2\sqrt{\dfrac{2}{3}}\sqrt{2 - \sqrt{3}}) =

2 2 3 ( 2 3 ) 3 2 = a a b ( a b ) b a a + b = 5 \dfrac{2\sqrt{2}}{3}(2 - \sqrt{3})^{\frac{3}{2}} = \dfrac{a\sqrt{a}}{b}(a - \sqrt{b})^{\frac{b}{a}} \implies a + b = \boxed{5} .

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