Question 14 Marks
From a point in the interior of an equilateral triangle, perpendiculars are drawn on the three sides. The lengths of the perpendiculars are 14cm, 10cm and 6cm. Find the area of the triangle.
Answer
View full question & answer→Let sides of an equilateral triangle be a m.
$\text{Area of }\triangle\text{OAB}=\frac{1}{2}\times\text{AB}\times\text{OP}$
$=\frac{1}{2}\times\text{a}\times14=7\text{a cm}^2$
$\text{Area of }\triangle\text{OBC}=\frac{1}{2}\times\text{BC}\times\text{OQ}$
$=\frac{1}{2}\times\text{a}\times10=5\text{a cm}^2$
$\text{Area of }\triangle\text{OAC}=\frac{1}{2}\times\text{AC}\times\text{OR}$
$=\frac{1}{2}\times\text{a}\times6=3\text{a cm}^2$

$\therefore$ Area of an equilateral $\triangle\text{ABC}=\text{Area of}(\triangle\text{OAB}+\triangle\text{OBA}+\triangle\text{OAC})$
$=(7\text{a}+5\text{a}+3\text{a})=15\text{a cm}^2$
We have, semi-permeter,
$\text{s}=\frac{\text{a}+\text{a}+\text{a}}{2}$
$\text{s}=\frac{3\text{a}}{2}\text{cm}$
$\therefore$ Area of an equilateral $\triangle\text{ABC}=\sqrt{\text{s}(\text{s}-\text{a})(\text{s}-\text{b})(\text{s}-\text{c})}$ [by Heron's formula]
$=\sqrt{\frac{3\text{a}}{2}\Big(\frac{3\text{a}}{2}-\text{a}\Big)\Big(\frac{3\text{a}}{2}-\text{a}\Big)\Big(\frac{3\text{a}}{2}-\text{a}\Big)}$
$=\sqrt{\frac{3\text{a}}{2}\times\frac{\text{a}}{2}\times\frac{\text{a}}{2}\times\frac{\text{a}}{2}}=\frac{\sqrt{3}}{4}\text{a}^2$
From eqs. (iv) and (v)
$\frac{\sqrt{3}}{4}\text{a}^2=15\text{a}$
$\Rightarrow\ \text{a}=\frac{15\times4}{\sqrt{3}}\times\frac{\sqrt{3}}{\sqrt{3}}=\frac{60\sqrt{3}}{3}=20\sqrt{3}\text{cm}$
On putting $\text{a}=20\sqrt{3}$ in eq. (v), we get
$\text{Area of }\triangle\text{ABC}=\frac{\sqrt{3}}{4}\big(20\sqrt{3}\big)^2$
$=\frac{\sqrt{3}}{4}\times400\times3$
$=300\sqrt{3}\text{cm}^2$
Hence, the area of an equilateral triangle is $300\sqrt{3}\text{cm}^2$
$\text{Area of }\triangle\text{OAB}=\frac{1}{2}\times\text{AB}\times\text{OP}$
$=\frac{1}{2}\times\text{a}\times14=7\text{a cm}^2$
$\text{Area of }\triangle\text{OBC}=\frac{1}{2}\times\text{BC}\times\text{OQ}$
$=\frac{1}{2}\times\text{a}\times10=5\text{a cm}^2$
$\text{Area of }\triangle\text{OAC}=\frac{1}{2}\times\text{AC}\times\text{OR}$
$=\frac{1}{2}\times\text{a}\times6=3\text{a cm}^2$

$\therefore$ Area of an equilateral $\triangle\text{ABC}=\text{Area of}(\triangle\text{OAB}+\triangle\text{OBA}+\triangle\text{OAC})$
$=(7\text{a}+5\text{a}+3\text{a})=15\text{a cm}^2$
We have, semi-permeter,
$\text{s}=\frac{\text{a}+\text{a}+\text{a}}{2}$
$\text{s}=\frac{3\text{a}}{2}\text{cm}$
$\therefore$ Area of an equilateral $\triangle\text{ABC}=\sqrt{\text{s}(\text{s}-\text{a})(\text{s}-\text{b})(\text{s}-\text{c})}$ [by Heron's formula]
$=\sqrt{\frac{3\text{a}}{2}\Big(\frac{3\text{a}}{2}-\text{a}\Big)\Big(\frac{3\text{a}}{2}-\text{a}\Big)\Big(\frac{3\text{a}}{2}-\text{a}\Big)}$
$=\sqrt{\frac{3\text{a}}{2}\times\frac{\text{a}}{2}\times\frac{\text{a}}{2}\times\frac{\text{a}}{2}}=\frac{\sqrt{3}}{4}\text{a}^2$
From eqs. (iv) and (v)
$\frac{\sqrt{3}}{4}\text{a}^2=15\text{a}$
$\Rightarrow\ \text{a}=\frac{15\times4}{\sqrt{3}}\times\frac{\sqrt{3}}{\sqrt{3}}=\frac{60\sqrt{3}}{3}=20\sqrt{3}\text{cm}$
On putting $\text{a}=20\sqrt{3}$ in eq. (v), we get
$\text{Area of }\triangle\text{ABC}=\frac{\sqrt{3}}{4}\big(20\sqrt{3}\big)^2$
$=\frac{\sqrt{3}}{4}\times400\times3$
$=300\sqrt{3}\text{cm}^2$
Hence, the area of an equilateral triangle is $300\sqrt{3}\text{cm}^2$






