Consider a trangle ABC, with edges of lengths a, b, c (where a is the length of the edge opposite to vertex A, and similarily for b vs B, c vs C). With a little abuse of notation, we also use A to represent the angle at vertex A. Now, consider a triangle ADE, with D on AB and E on AC, let's denote the length of AD and AE as x and y respectively . We want to minimize the length of DE subject to the constrain that the area of ADE is half of that of ABC, or: max x^2+y^2-2 *x *y *cos(A) subject towww.ddhw.com x*y = 1/2*b*c x Since x*y is constant, so that problem can be simplified: max x^2+y^2 subject to x*y = 1/2*b*c x Solution: (1) if 1/2 else (2) b>=2*c, y = c, x = 1/2*b (3) c>=2*b, x=b, y = 1/2*c www.ddhw.com Then, the length of DE = sqrt(b^2+c^2-2*b*c*cosA) Similarily, you may calculate the length of the dividing line for small triangles contain vertex C and B, and compare to get the final result. www.ddhw.com |