1

. A
dwin Montular
82911
Math 403
Problem 1.8.
(a) Considcr trianglc ABC and midpoints A

, B

, C

ol thc sidcs
BC,CA, and AB rcspcctivcly. Show that
[(A

) (AB)] [(B

) (BC)] [(C

) (CA)]
and that
A

= C

A =
1
2
(B A) .
(b) Lct A

, B

, C

bc thrcc noncollincar points. Find all trianglcs

ABC lor which A

is thc trianglc on thc midpoints ol

thc sidcs ol trianglc ABC.
Answer. (a) To show that
A

B

AB
, wc nccd to vcrily that lor somc scalar
t, wc havc
B A = t (B

) ,
that is,

AB is a scalar multiplc ol

. ! claim that t = 2, lor thc vcctor

is in oppositc oricntation ol

AB (rclcr to Iigure 1.1), and

AB appcars
to bc twicc thc lcngth ol

. !ndccd this is truc, lor

A B
C
A

Figurc 1.1: Construction 1

t =
B A
B

whcrc, B

=
1
2
(A+C) and A

=
1
2
(B +C), thus
t =
B A
1
2
(A+C)
1
2
(B +C)
=
B A
1
2
(AB)
=
B A

1
2
(B A)
= 2.
!n a similar lashion, wc show that
B

C

BC
, whcrc
B C =s (B

) ,
and B

=
1
2
(A+C) and C

=
1
2
(A+B), so that
s =
B C
(B

)
=
B C
1
2
(A+C)
1
2
(A+B)
=
B C

1
2
(B C)
= 2.
2
Finally, wc show that
C

A

CA
. !ndccd, C A = r (C

), whcrc
C

=
1
2
(A+B) and A

=
1
2
(B +C), so that
r =
C A
C

=
C A
1
2
(A+B)
1
2
(B +C)
=
C A

1
2
(C A)
= 2.
bscrvc that
A

=
1
2
(B +C)
1
2
(A+C) =
1
2
(B A) ,
and
C

A =
1
2
(A+B) A =
1
2
AA+B =
1
2
(B A) ,
thus A

= C

A =
1
2
(B A), as dcsircd. Now, lor (b), thcrc arc in
nitcly many trianglcs ABC with A

as thc trianglc ol midpoints ol

its sidcs, whcrc A

, B

, and C

arc not collincar. Rclcr to KSG construction

1, containcd insidc Iigure 1.1.
Problem 1.9. Considcr thc samc construction carrics out also lor thc quadri
latcral ACBD(watch thc ordcr) . is rcsults in a sccond parallclogram
N
1
N
2
N
3
N
4
. Lct N
2
= M
2
and N
4
= M
4
, so that thc two rcsulting parallcl
ograms havc onc diagonal in common.
A
B C
D
M
2
=
N2
M
4
= N
4
M
1
M
3
N
3
N
1
A
C
B
D
Figurc 1.2: Construction 2
Usc KSG to makc a construction ol this situation and wigglc thc givcn
points. Vhat thcorcm can you dcducc lrom thcsc cxpcrimcnts:
Answer.c lollowing thcorcm is dcduccd lrom this construction:
eorem. Consider t.o parallelagrams M
1
M
2
M
3
M
4
and N
1
N
2
N
3
N
4
, .hose
.ertices are dened as the midpoints of quadrilaterals ABCD and ACBD,
as indicated in #!/, g8h. Let M
2
= N
2
and M
4
= N
4
. e diagonals,

N1N3
,
M1M3
, and
M2M4
=
N2N4
, share a common point.
Problem 1.11. Provc that thc ccntroid ol a trianglc is also thc ccntroid ol thc
trianglc ol thc midpoints ol its sidcs.
Answer. Lct ABC bc an arbitrary trianglc, whosc cdgcs havc midpoints
A

=
1
2
(B +C), B

=
1
2
(A+C), and C

=
1
2
(A+B). Lct thcsc
midpoints dcnc anothcr trianglc, namcly A

. Now, supposc that

G =
1
3
(A+B +C) is thc ccntroid ol ABC and G

=
1
3
(A

+B

+C

)
3
is thc ccntroid ol A

, thcn G

= G. !ndccd,
G

=
1
3
(A

+B

+C

)
=
1
3

1
2
(B +C) +
1
2
(A+C) +
1
2
(A+B)

=
1
3

1
2
(B +C +A+C +A+B)

=
1
3

1
2
(2A+ 2B + 2C)

=
1
3
(A+B +C) = G.
crclorc, thc ccntroid ol a trianglc is also thc ccntroid ol thc trianglc ol thc
midpoints ol its sidcs. Rclcr to Iigure 1.1 on pagc 1.