Segment Trisection Induced by Parallels to Medians
What is this about?
A Mathematical Droodle
Explanation
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Copyright © 1996-2012 Alexander Bogomolny
The applet attempts to suggest the following problem [Prasolov, p. 13]:
In ΔABC, AK and CL are two medians, P a point on AC, PE||AK and PF||CL (E on BC, F on AB). Prove that EF is divided into three equal parts by the points M and N of intersection with CL and AK.
Let Q and R be the intersections of AK with PF and CL with PE and let O be the centroid of ΔABC. AO:KO = 2:1. Since PE||AK triangles CER and CKO are similar, as are triangles CRP and COA, implying the proportions
ER/KO = CR/CO = PR/AO,
so that
PR/ER = AO/KO = 2/1.
Since PF||CL, triangles ENR and EFP are similar, implying
2/1 = PR/ER = FN/NE,
so that NE = EF/3. Similarly, FM = EF/3 and then also MN = EF/3.
References
- V. V. Prasolov, Problems in Planimetry I, Nauka, 1986 (in Russian)
|Activities|
|Contact|
|Front page|
|Contents|
|Geometry|
|Store|
Copyright © 1996-2012 Alexander Bogomolny
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