Harder applications of Heron's formula

Yue Kwok Choy

Question 1
You are given a rope of length s , find the largest area of the triangle formed by this
rope. What is its area ?
Solution
We are going to prove that the equilateral triangle has the maximum area for any
fixed perimeter s .
Let a , b , c be the sides of the triangle .
The perimeter is fixed and a + b + c = 2s , so 2s is a constant .
By Heron's formula :

s s a s b s c

, s

abc
2

(1)

Now, by Arithmetic mean Geometric mean inequality (for three variables) ,

s a s b s c s a s b s c

3s a b c

3s 2s
3

s3
27

(2)
and the equality occurs when s a = s b = s c (the variables are all equal) , that is, a = b = c .
The triangle is therefore equilateral .
By (2), since the product is always less than a constant
and by Heron's formula,

the maximum area of a triangle with fixed perimeter s is

s s a s b s c

max

s3
, this constant is the maximum for the product
27

s s3
s2

27
3 3

3s 2
9

Question 2
You are given the medians of the triangle ma , mb and mc . Find the area of ABC .
Solution
As in the diagram, D, E, F are mid-points of BC, CA and AB.
G is the centroid . ma = AD , mb = BE and mc = CF .
Now, AG

2
AD
3

AGF

1
1
ABG ABC
2
6

Let P be the mid-point of AG , we have

FPG

1
PG m a ,
3

1
FP m b ,
3

1
FG m c
3

1
1
AFG
ABC
2
12

By Heron's formula,
1

ABC 12FPG 12
4
3

1
9

m m m a m m b m m c where m

1
ma mb mc
2

m m m a m m b m m c

Question 3
You are given the altitudes of the triangle ha , hb and hc . Find the area of ABC .
Solution
As in the diagram, AD BC, BE CA, CF AB.
G is the orthocentre ha = AD , hb = BE and hc = CF .

1
1
1
h a a h b b h c c , we have :
2
2
2

Since

a
s

2
2
2
,b
,c
ha
hb
hc

1
abc
1
1

2
ha hb hc

Put (3), (4) in Heron's formula :

1
1
1
2

h a h b h c

(3)

(4)

s s a s b s c

1
1
1

h a h b h c

1
1
1

h a h b h c

1
1
1
1
1
1
1 1
1
1

ha hb hc ha hb hc ha hb hc

1
1
1

h a h b h c

1
1
1

ha hb hc

Question 4
You are given the altitudes of the triangle hb , hc and side a . Show that the area of ABC , , satisfies the
2

2 1
2
1
1 4
1
7 2
4

equation : 16
and a = 5 , find .

8
a

a 0 . If h b 4, h c
h 2 h 2
h 2 h 2
2
b

c
c
b
Solution
As in the diagram, AD BC, BE CA, CF AB.
G is the orthocentre ha = AD , hb = BE and hc = CF .
We have b

2
2
,c
hb
hc

Put (5) in Heron's formula :

1
1
1
2
a

hb hc

1/ 2

(5)

s s a s b s c

1
1
2

hb hc

1/ 2

1
1
2

hb hc

1/ 2

1
1
2

hb hc

1/ 2

 1
1

16

h c
h b
2

1/ 2

4 a
2

1
1
42
a

hc

hb
2

1/ 2

After expansion, we can get an equation :

1
2
1
1
1
4
16 2 2 4 8 a 2

2
a 0
2
2
hc
hc
h b

hb

This is a bi-quadratic equation in , we can solve for unique positive real root .