Hopping a Triangular Path

Geometry Level 4

Kelvin the Frog lives in a triangle A B C ABC with side lengths 4, 5 and 6. One day he starts at some point on side A B AB of the triangle, hops in a straight line to some point on side B C BC of the triangle, hops in a straight line to some point on side C A CA of the triangle, and finally hops back to his original position on side A B AB of the triangle. The smallest distance Kelvin could have hopped is m n \frac{m}{n} for relatively prime positive integers m m and n n . What is m + n m+n ?


The answer is 121.

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1 solution

The solution to Fagnano's problem is the orthic triangle . As the given triangle is acute the perimeter of the orthic triangle is a cos ( A ) + b cos ( B ) + c cos ( C ) a\cos(A) + b\cos(B) + c\cos(C) where a , b , c a,b,c are the side lengths and A , B , C A,B,C the angles opposite sides a , b , c a,b,c respectively.

With ( a , b , c ) = ( 4 , 5 , 6 ) (a,b,c) = (4,5,6) , we then make use of the cosine law to find that

cos ( A ) = b 2 + c 2 a 2 2 b c = 3 4 , cos ( B ) = a 2 + c 2 b 2 2 a c = 9 16 \cos(A) = \dfrac{b^{2} + c^{2} - a^{2}}{2bc} = \dfrac{3}{4}, \cos(B) = \dfrac{a^{2} + c^{2} - b^{2}}{2ac} = \dfrac{9}{16} and

cos ( C ) = a 2 + b 2 c 2 2 a b = 1 8 \cos(C) = \dfrac{a^{2} + b^{2} - c^{2}}{2ab} = \dfrac{1}{8} , resulting in a perimeter of

4 3 4 + 5 9 16 + 6 1 8 = 105 16 4*\dfrac{3}{4} + 5*\dfrac{9}{16} + 6*\dfrac{1}{8} = \dfrac{105}{16} , and so m + n = 105 + 16 = 121 m + n = 105 + 16 = \boxed{121} .

Used identical method after referring to google about orthic triangle.

Niranjan Khanderia - 5 years, 3 months ago

Was given a subset of this problem few years back and thinking with strings, ellipses and finally reflections lead to the solution. Here is the video of that:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Ei9kjCd_SE

Later came to know about Fagnano's problem and could extend this approach to reach the Orthic triangle. I will post it as a note or create a video and post on YouTube.

Ujjwal Rane - 4 years, 8 months ago

If a viewer wishes to watch as much of a race on all sides of a triangular course as possible from the ground, he should travel along the orthic triangle.

Scott Rodham - 3 years, 9 months ago

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