Given 100 coplanar points, no 3 collinear, prove that at most 70% of the triangles formed by the points have all angles acute.
Solution
Improved and corrected by Gerhard Wöginger, Technical University Graz
At most 3 of the triangles formed by 4 points can be acute. It follows that at most 7 out of the 10 triangles formed by any 5 points can be acute. For given 10 points, the maximum no. of acute triangles is: the no. of subsets of 4 points x 3/the no. of subsets of 4 points containing 3 given points. The total no. of triangles is the same expression with the first 3 replaced by 4. Hence at most 3/4 of the 10, or 7.5, can be acute, and hence at most 7 can be acute.
The same argument now extends the result to 100 points. The maximum number of acute triangles formed by 100 points is: the no. of subsets of 5 points x 7/the no. of subsets of 5 points containing 3 given points. The total no. of triangles is the same expression with 7 replaced by 10. Hence at most 7/10 of the triangles are acute.
Solutions are also available in: Samuel L Greitzer, International Mathematical Olympiads 1959-1977, MAA 1978, and in István Reiman, International Mathematical Olympiad 1959-1999, ISBN 189-8855-48-X.
© John Scholes
jscholes@kalva.demon.co.uk
6 Oct 1998
Last updated/corrected 14 Mar 03