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What is the sum of the three vectors representing the medians of a triangle directed from its vertices?


The answer is 0.

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1 solution

The median vector M A \vec{M_{A}} originating from A A is equal to 1 2 ( A B + A C ) \dfrac{1}{2}(\vec{AB} + \vec{AC}) .

Similarly, the median vectors originating from B B and C C respectively are

M B = 1 2 ( B A + B C ) \vec{M_{B}} = \dfrac{1}{2}(\vec{BA} + \vec{BC}) and M C = 1 2 ( C A + C B ) \vec{M_{C}} = \dfrac{1}{2}(\vec{CA} + \vec{CB}) .

We then have that M A + M B + M C = 1 2 ( A B + A C + B A + B C + C A + C B ) = \vec{M_{A}} + \vec{M_{B}} + \vec{M_{C}} = \dfrac{1}{2}(\vec{AB} + \vec{AC} + \vec{BA} + \vec{BC} + \vec{CA} + \vec{CB}) =

1 2 ( ( A B + B A ) + ( A C + C A ) + ( B C + C B ) ) = 0 \dfrac{1}{2}((\vec{AB} + \vec{BA}) + (\vec{AC} + \vec{CA}) + (\vec{BC} + \vec{CB})) = \boxed{0} ,

since in general X Y = Y X \vec{XY} = -\vec{YX} for any distinct points X , Y X,Y .

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