Three Points

Three points are chosen randomly, uniformly, and independently on the circumference of a circle.

If there is a 1 12 \frac{1}{12} probability that the triangle formed by the three points has an obtuse angle that is greater or equal to α \alpha , what is α \alpha (in degrees)?


The answer is 150.

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1 solution

David Vreken
Mar 8, 2019

Let A A , B B , and C C be the points on the circle and let O O be the center of the circle. Then without loss of generality, the points can be rotated so that A A is on the positive x x -axis. Then let x x be the central angle between A A and B B and y y be the central angle between A A and C C . Then both x x and y y are such that 0 x < 360 ° 0 \leq x < 360° and 0 y < 360 ° 0 \leq y < 360° .

A O B \triangle AOB , B O C \triangle BOC , and A O C \triangle AOC are isosceles triangles because each have two sides that are radii of the circle.

If y > x y > x , the base angles of these triangles are 90 ° x 2 90° - \frac{x}{2} , 90 ° y 2 + x 2 90° - \frac{y}{2} + \frac{x}{2} , and 90 ° y 2 90° - \frac{y}{2} , which makes B A C = y x 2 \angle BAC = \frac{y - x}{2} , A B C = 180 ° y 2 \angle ABC = 180° - \frac{y}{2} , and A C B = x 2 \angle ACB = \frac{x}{2} . For any one of these angles to be greater or equal to an obtuse angle α \alpha , either y x 2 α \frac{y - x}{2} \geq \alpha or y x + 2 α y \geq x + 2\alpha , 180 ° y 2 α 180° - \frac{y}{2} \geq \alpha or y 360 ° 2 α y \leq 360° - 2\alpha , or x 2 α \frac{x}{2} \geq \alpha or x 2 α x \geq 2\alpha , which is shaded in green in the graph below:

By symmetry, if x > y x > y , for any one of these angles to be greater or equal to an obtuse angle α \alpha , either y x 2 α y \leq x - 2\alpha , x 360 ° 2 α x \leq 360° - 2\alpha , or y 2 α y \geq 2\alpha , which is shaded in green in the graph below:

Combining these graphs gives a visual representation of all the possible triangles that can be made by three points on the circumference of a circle, with the green regions showing the triangles that have at least one angle that is greater or equal to an obtuse angle α \alpha :

The green regions have a combined area A G A_G equivalent to 3 3 squares with sides of 360 ° 2 α 360° - 2\alpha , so A G = 3 ( 360 ° 2 α ) 2 A_G = 3(360° - 2\alpha)^2 , and the total area A T A_T is a square with sides of 360 ° 360° , so A T = 360 ° 2 A_T = 360°^2 . The probability P P of the triangle having an obtuse angle that is greater or equal to α \alpha is therefore P = A G A T = 3 ( 360 ° 2 α ) 2 360 ° 2 P = \frac{A_G}{A_T} = \frac{3(360° - 2\alpha)^2}{360°^2} or P = 3 ( 180 ° α ) 2 180 ° 2 P = \frac{3(180° - \alpha)^2}{180°^2} , and when P = 1 12 P = \frac{1}{12} , this solves to α = 150 ° \alpha = \boxed{150°} .

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