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jmc

geometry intermediate

Problem

The diagonals of a regular hexagon have two possible lengths. What is the ratio of the shorter length to the longer length? Express your answer as a common fraction in simplest radical form.
Solution
The two possible diagonal lengths are and . The measure of an interior angle of a regular hexagon is degrees. Therefore, angle measures degrees. Also, the base angles of the isosceles triangle with the marked 120-degree angle each measure degrees. This implies that is a right angle, so triangle is a 30-60-90 triangle. Therefore, the ratio of to is .
Final answer
\frac{\sqrt{3}}{2}