Prove the following assertion: The four altitudes of a tetrahedron ABCD intersect in a point if and only if AB2+CD2=BC2+AD2=CA2+BD2.
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Tags: geometry, 3D geometry, tetrahedron, altitudes, IMO Shortlist
05.06.2013 17:08
If the four altitudes of a tetrahedron ABCD intersect in a point H, →HA⋅(→HB−→HC)=→HA⋅→CB=0 so →HA⋅→HB=→HA⋅→HC and so on then AB2+CD2=|→HA−→HB|2+|→HC−→HD|2 =HA2+HB2+HC2+HD2−2→HA⋅→HB−2→HC⋅→HD =HA2+HB2+HC2+HD2−2→HB⋅→HC−2→HA⋅→HD =|→HB−→HC|2+|→HA−→HD|2=BC2+AD2 similarly BC2+AD2=CA2+BD2, hence AB2+CD2=BC2+AD2=CA2+BD2.
05.06.2013 17:59
Conversely, if AB2+CD2=BC2+AD2=CA2+BD2, Since BC2+AD2=AB2+AC2−2→AB⋅→AC+AD2 and CA2+BD2=CA2+AB2+AD2−2→AB⋅→AD, from BC2+AD2=CA2+BD2 we have →AB⋅→AC=→AB⋅→AD, so →AB⋅→CD=→AB⋅→AD−→AB⋅→AC=0, that is, AB is orthogonal to CD Similarly AC is orthogonal to BD, AD is orthogonal to BC Let AA′, BB′, CC′, DD′ be altitudes of tetrahedron ABCD. Since AA′ and AB are both orthogonal to CD, A′ and B are on the plane orthogonal to CD and containing A. Since BB′ is also orthogonal to CD, B′ is also on the plane. Hence AA′ and BB′ are on the same plane and they are not parallel (otherwise ABCD will degenerate), so they intersect at a point, called H We now have AH orthogonal to plane BCD and BH orthogonal to plane ACD. Since AD is orthogonal to BC and BH, it is also orthogonal to CH, and similarly BD is orthogonal to CH. Hence CH is orthogonal to plane ABD, so H is on the altitude CC′. Similarly DH is orthogonal to plane ABC, H is on the altitude DD′. Finally we have the four altitudes of tetrahedron ABCD intersect in point H