Triangle defined by one point

Geometry Level 5

Point H ( 1 , 2 , 3 ) H(1,2,3) is an orthocentre of a triangle. Vertices of a triangle are on the axes of the coordinate system. O O is circumcentre of the triangle, R R is radius of triangle's nine point circle and N N is centre of the nine point circle.

Find R 2 O N 2 R^2 - ON^2


The answer is 7.

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1 solution

Maria Kozlowska
Jul 25, 2015

Let P P denote the point of origin, A , B , C A,B,C vertices of the triangle, R c R_{c} its circumradius and a , b , c a,b,c its side lengths.

Tetrahedron A B C P is trirectangular orthogonal \text{Tetrahedron }ABCP \text{ is trirectangular } \Rightarrow \text{ orthogonal } P H A B C \Rightarrow PH \perp \triangle ABC .

Plane on which A B C \triangle ABC lies can be found x + 2 y + 3 z = 14 x + 2y + 3z = 14 and points A ( 14 , 0 , 0 ) , B ( 0 , 7 , 0 ) , C ( 0 , 0 , 14 / 3 ) A(14,0,0), B(0,7,0), C(0,0,14/3) .

Triangle's side lengths can be found using Pythagorean theorem, and the rest of the values using regular formulas. Heron's formula or de Gua's theorem to find triangle area and then:

R c = a b c 4 A B C R_{c}=\frac{abc}{4 \triangle ABC}

O H 2 = 9 R c 2 ( a 2 + b 2 + c 2 ) OH^2 = 9 R_{c}^2 - (a^2 + b^2 + c^2)

R = R c / 2 , O N = O H / 2 R = R_{c}/2 , ON = OH/2

Note:

As an additional exercise I got the following:

For H ( k , l , m ) H(k,l,m) plane has equation k x + l y + m z = k 2 + l 2 + m 2 kx + ly + mz = k^2 + l^2 + m^2 .

Vertices: A ( a l , 0 , 0 ) B ( 0 , b l , 0 ) C ( 0 , 0 , c l ) A(a_{l},0,0) B(0,b_{l},0) C(0,0,c_{l}) a l = k 2 + l 2 + m 2 k , b l = k 2 + l 2 + m 2 l , c l = k 2 + l 2 + m 2 m ) a_{l}=\frac{k^2 + l^2 + m^2}{k}, b_{l}=\frac{ k^2 + l^2 + m^2}{l}, c_{l}=\frac{k^2 + l^2 + m^2}{m})

Centroid: G ( k 2 + l 2 + m 2 3 k , k 2 + l 2 + m 2 3 l , k 2 + l 2 + m 2 3 m ) G(\frac{k^2 + l^2 + m^2}{3k}, \frac{k^2 + l^2 + m^2}{3l}, \frac{ k^2 + l^2 + m^2}{3m})

Circumcentre : O ( l 2 + m 2 2 k , k 2 + m 2 2 l , k 2 + l 2 2 m ) = O ( a l k 2 , b l l 2 , c l m 2 ) O ( \frac{l^2+m^2}{2k} , \frac{k^2+m^2}{2l} , \frac{k^2+l^2}{2m} ) = O( \frac{a_{l}-k}{2}, \frac{b_{l}-l}{2}, \frac{c_{l}-m}{2})

Circumradius: R c 2 = ( ( a l 2 + b l 2 + c l 2 ) ( k 2 + l 2 + m 2 ) ) / 4 R_{c}^2=((a_{l}^2 + b_{l}^2 + c_{l}^2) - (k^2+l^2+m^2))/4

O H 2 = ( a l 2 + b l 2 + c l 2 9 ( k 2 + l 2 + m 2 ) ) / 4 OH^2=(a_{l}^2 + b_{l}^2 + c_{l}^2 - 9(k^2 + l^2+ m^2))/4

R c 2 O H 2 = 2 ( k 2 + l 2 + m 2 ) = 2 H P 2 R_{c}^2 - OH^2 = 2(k^2 + l^2+ m^2) = 2 HP^2

R c 2 + O H 2 = 2 O P 2 R_{c}^2 + OH^2=2 OP^2

a l k = b l l = c l m = k 2 + l 2 + m 2 a_{l} k = b_{l} l = c_{l} m = k^2 + l^2+ m^2

That is so not how I worked this one (it was a huge mess for me). It's really a such short solution for a problem nobody else seems to want to tackle. This one got a thumbs up from me.

Michael Mendrin - 5 years, 10 months ago

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The short solution is actually this:

( R c 2 O H 2 ) / 2 = P H 2 R 2 O N 2 = P H 2 / 2 (R_{c}^2 - OH^2)/2 =PH^2 \Rightarrow R^2 - ON^2 = PH^2 / 2 . It is inspired by the "Trirectangular corner locus" by yourself.

Maria Kozlowska - 5 years, 10 months ago

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Oh, wow, you're right, I recognize the form now. That's a great tie-in with that problem. I had done that problem many years ago, before I posted it in Brilliant.org much later.

Trirectangular Corner Locus

Michael Mendrin - 5 years, 10 months ago

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