Browse · MATH
Printjmc
geometry senior
Problem
Let be the centroid of ; that is, the point where the segments joining each vertex to the midpoint of the opposite side all meet. If is equilateral with , then compute the perimeter of .
Solution
Let be the midpoint of , so that the segment from to passes through , by definition. One suspects that , which can be confirmed by noting that since all corresponding sides are congruent. Since and , we can compute using the Pythagorean Theorem. We now recall an important property of the centroid: it lies on all three medians and divides each of them in a 2 to 1 ratio. In other words, . We deduce that , so we can finally compute length by using the Pythagorean theorem in to find In the same manner as well, giving a perimeter of .
Final answer
2+4\sqrt{7}