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Pow 5 - Equally Wet

This document discusses arrangements of points where multiple points are equidistant from a central point. It provides two examples - an equilateral triangle of three points and a square of four points. For both, it uses the Pythagorean theorem to calculate the distance from each point to the central point to show they are all equidistant. It concludes that the only arrangements that satisfy this property are regular polygons, where the central point is at the geometric center. Irregular arrangements will not have all points equidistant from the center.

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1K views2 pages

Pow 5 - Equally Wet

This document discusses arrangements of points where multiple points are equidistant from a central point. It provides two examples - an equilateral triangle of three points and a square of four points. For both, it uses the Pythagorean theorem to calculate the distance from each point to the central point to show they are all equidistant. It concludes that the only arrangements that satisfy this property are regular polygons, where the central point is at the geometric center. Irregular arrangements will not have all points equidistant from the center.

Uploaded by

api-298272918
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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POW 5: Equally Wet

Problem Statement

The purpose of this POW is to find situations in which three or more points on a
plane are an equal distance from a central (or not) point.

Visual Representation

Figure 1 - Equilateral Quadrilateral & Rhombus

Process

The first way that I can think of in which this will certainly work is with an equilateral
triangle. Picture an equilateral triangle with one foot between each angle, with a flower at
each of these points. Now cut it down the middle, making the triangle into two right
triangles with hypotenuse of one foot each & the bottom side’s value being .5, then
calculate the length of the middle line by using the Pythagorean Theorem.
a^2+b^2=c^2
.5^2+b^2=1^2
.25+b^2=1
-.25 -.25
b^2=.75
Sq. Root of .75=.87
b=.87 ft.
.87/2=.435
So, since the exact middle point of the triangle is at .435 ft. above the bottom, Leslie
should put it there; assuming, of course, that she planted her flowers in this
arrangement. However, I do not know of any other possible arrangements for the
situation in which there are three flowers, as all others result in uneven water levels for
each flower. Assuming that I am correct, the only correct to arrange the three flowers is
in an equilateral triangle, as seen above.
For four flowers, the process is every similar; all four flowers must be on the corners
of a square in the garden. By doing this, the flowers are all an equal distance from the
center point, where the sprinkler will be placed. Solving for this takes longer, but is very
similar to the equilateral triangle, where one must use the Pythagorean Theorem, and
then cut the square into two pieces, with both new triangles taking two sides of the
square each, and they share a line on the middle point, which acts as a hypotenuse.
Once c^2 is solved for, simply divide it by 2, and the resulting number is the center point
where the sprinkler should be placed. Just like with three flowers, however, this is the
only possible result that I can determine at this time for four flowers.

Solution

With the end result of the four flowers in mind, let us proceed to the next portion.
However, we mustn’t solve every single flower arrangement this way, as that would
theoretically take an eternity. At this point, it is easy to see a pattern for each shape
going forward: One must simply break the shape into a minimal amount of right triangles
and use the center line (or one of them if there are multiple, which could occur with
shapes that have more sides) to find the radius of the shape from one side to another,
and the resulting number is the point at which the sprinkler should be placed relative to a
preexisting side of the given shape. The only catch is that these are the only shapes with
which it is possible to find an exact center point of an arrangement of three or more
flowers; no irregular arrangements whatsoever. So if Leslie has planted her flowers in an
irregular shape, her flowers will unfortunately have uneven water levels. But if they are
on the corners of any equilateral shape, she’s good to go!

Evaluation & Self-Assessment

This was a fairly easy POW, though I am a bit worried that I did not get the correct
answer or if my method is flawed in a way that I cannot see. Nonetheless, I found this
fairly enjoyable to work on and I feel quite confident with my answer to the main
problem.

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