In the irregular tetrahedron above, find the that minimizes the triangular faces and when the volume of the tetrahedron is held constant.
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△ A E C is an isosceles triangle ⟹ E M is the perpendicular bisector of base A C ⟹ △ M E C is a right triangle and A M = M C .
Since ∠ A C B is a common angle to both right triangle A B C and M E C ⟹ △ A B C ∼ △ M E C ⟹ m 2 m = a x + a ⟹ x = a and the pythagorean theorem in △ A B C ⟹ y = 2 m = 3 a .
Let h be the height of the tetrahedron.
v = − 3 a i + a j + 0 k
u = − 3 a i + 0 j + h k
⟹ u X v = − a h i − 3 a h j − 3 a 2 k ⟹ ∣ u X v ∣ = a 4 h 2 + 3 a 2 and ∣ u ∣ = 3 a 2 + h 2
⟹ d = 3 a 2 + h 2 a 4 h 2 + 3 a 2 ⟹ A △ B C D = 2 1 a 4 h 2 + 3 a 2
△ B C D ≅ △ B C ′ D
Let A = A △ B C D = A △ B C ′ D = 2 1 a 4 h 2 + 3 a 2 .
The volume V = 3 1 a 2 h = k ⟹ h = a 2 3 k ⟹ A ( a ) = 2 1 a 1 2 k 2 + 3 a 6 ⟹
d a d A = a 2 1 2 k 2 + 3 a 6 3 ( a 6 − 2 k 2 ) = 0 a = 0 ⟹ a = ( 2 k ) 3 1 ⟹ h = 3 ( 2 k ) 3 1
d a d A < 0 when a < ( 2 k ) 3 1 and d a d A > 0 when a > ( 2 k ) 3 1 ⟹ minimum at a = ( 2 k ) 3 1 .
∣ v ∣ = 2 a and using ∣ u X v ∣ = a 4 h 2 + 3 a 2 and ∣ u ∣ = 3 a 2 + h 2 above ⟹
sin ( θ ) = ∣ u ∣ ∣ v ∣ ∣ u X v ∣ = 2 1 ⟹ θ = 4 5 ∘ .
Note: h 2 = ( 2 3 2 3 ) k 3 2 = A △ B C D = A △ B C ′ D .