Perpendicular Bisectors

& Voronoi Diagrams

1. [Maximum mark: 10]

The diagram below shows the three towns of Abbot, Bilton, and Chadhill, as well as their average
temperature (°F) in April.

a) i) Find the equation of the perpendicular bisector of Bilton and Chadhill.

ii) Sketch the perpendicular bisector to complete the Voronoi diagram above. [5]

b) Use Nearest Neighbour Interpolation to estimate the temperature at the following points:

i) At point (3, -1):

ii) At point (2, -1.5):

iii) At point (0, 0.5): [5]

Points R, S, and T are shown in a Voronoi

Point R has coordinates (1, 8). The

perpendicular bisector of the line

segment RS has equation:

y = 4x − 4.5
Find the coordinates of point S:

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3. [Maximum mark: 6]

Towns F, G, and H are shown in the coordinate plane below:

a) i) Sketch the perpendicular bisector of towns G & F, to complete the Voronoi diagram.

ii) Write down the equation of this perpendicular bisector: [3]

b) The local county council wants to build a hospital that equidistant from all three towns. Using

the Voronoi diagram, write down the optimal coordinates of this hospital:

c) How far from each town should the hospital be built? [3]

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4. [Maximum mark: 8]

The location of cell towers outside El Paso are shown in the Voronoi diagram below, where the origin is El
Paso, with a scale of 1 unit = 1 mile:

a) Find the midpoint of the line segment XW: [2]

b) Calculate the slope of the line segment XW: [2]

c) Find the equation of the line that would complete the Voronoi cells of points X and W. Give

your equation in the form: y − y1 = m(x − x1) [3]

d) In this context, explain the significance of the cell containing X: [1]

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5. [Maximum mark: 9]
Prison guards are stationed at points A, B, and C in the Voronoi diagrams below, for 0 ⩽ x, y ⩽ 12.

a) Write down the equation of the perpendicular bisector of guards A and C: [2]

b) Find the equation of the perpendicular bisector of guards B and C: [4]

c) If a prisoner wanted to find a point that was equidistant from all three guards on this grid, what

would the coordinates of that location be? [3]

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6. [Maximum mark: 6]

The Voronoi diagram below shows the annual rainfall in various East African capital cities:

a) Use Nearest Neighbour Interpolation to estimate the average annual rainfall in the Kenyan town of [1]

Kisumu:

b) The Tanzanian town of Nyakahura lies on the bisector, as pictured. Estimate the average annual

rainfall for that town: [2]

c) Homa Bay also lies directly on the bisector shown above. Using Nearest Neighbour Interpolation, it

is estimated that Homa Bay has 1215mm annual rainfall. Using this information, calculate the

average annual rainfall for the Kenyan capital - Nairobi. [3]

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7. [Maximum mark: 9]

The positions of trees A, B, C & D in a meadow are shown in the diagram below:

Line L is the perpendicular bisector

of B and D. Tree B has coordinates

(12,-2), and L has the equation:

−1 3
y= x+
2 2

Find the coordinates of tree D:

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 8. [Maximum mark: 8]

The Daily Picks supermarket chain has spread out their stores around eastern Fulton County. Their
locations are shown in the partial Voronoi diagram below. [1 unit = 10 miles]:

a) i) Sketch the perpendicular bisector of store B and C, to complete the Voronoi diagram:

ii) Write down the equation of the perpendicular bisector: [3]

b) After drawing the final line segment, what does the cell containing Store C represent, in the context

of the situation? [2]

c) Find the area of the cell containing Store C, in square miles: [3]

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 9. [Maximum mark: 7]

Three waste and recycling plants [A, B & C] in Uttar Pradesh are shown in the coordinate plane below,
along with the perpendicular bisectors between them. Anubhav wants to live equally far away from all
three plants. Where should he build his house?

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 10. [Maximum mark: 5]

Below is a Voronoi diagram, which has been constructed using the four crosses as the ‘sites’. The
perpendicular bisectors are labelled from a to e:

Site S is now added as the fifth site, and the Voronoi diagram is to be altered accordingly.

a) Write down the new number of cells after this addition: [2]

b) Which perpendicular bisector line segments will be completely removed and replaced if one were

to construct the new Voronoi diagram with Site S? [1]

c) Which cell in the new Voronoi diagram will Point M lie in? Explain your reasoning: [2]

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11. [Maximum mark: 10]

The Voronoi diagram below shows the location of various ski resort towns in the Three Valleys region
of the French alps. The table shows the February snowfall, in cm, in all of these towns:

Resort Town Snow (cm)

Les Allues 24

Courchevel 28.2

Val Thorens 41.6

Les Menuires 38.4

Meribel 6.4

Mottaret 30

a) Esther is at a ski chalet that she thinks is equidistant to four ski resorts. Estimate her coordinates: [2]

b) Estimate the average annual snowfall at:

i) (5, 8)

ii) (11, 10)

[5]
iii) At Esther’s chalet

c) In the form k , how far is it from her chalet to the nearest resort? [3]

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 12. [Maximum mark: 7]

A nuclear power plant is trying to dump its toxic waste as far away from urban areas as possible. The
diagram below shows the nearby four cities:

a) i) Find the centre of the largest empty circle:

ii) Find the radius of the largest empty circle, to 3 decimal places: [4]

b) i) What does this tell you about where the company should dump their waste?

ii) If 1 unit = 100km, at most how far from each city could the waste be dumped?
[3]

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 13. [Maximum mark: 6]

The government want to test its latest bomb technology in the desert, but there are a few villages in
this region, shown by A, B & C on the diagram below. The rules state that any bomb testing site must
be at least 4.8 miles from any settlement. It is given that the perpendicular bisector of villages A & C
has equation: y = 3x − 11

a) By considering perpendicular bisector(s), find the point that is equidistant from all three villages: [4]

b) Hence, are the government able to test their weapon in the red area? Justify your answer. [2]

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