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Given a parallelogram with $d_1 = AC = 26$ cm, $d_2 = BD = 18$ cm and $\sin \displaystyle \angle AOD = \frac{12}{13}$.

Find $AB = a$ and $AD = b$.

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What I did in order to solve it

  • Using the formula for the area

$S = \frac{d_1d_2\sin \displaystyle \Phi}{2} = \frac{26 \times 18 \times 12/13}{2} = 216$

  • Using Heron's formula for $\triangle BOC$ to find $b$

Defining $OC = a = 26 / 2 = 13$, $OB = b = 18 / 2 = 9$, $BC = c$

$p = \frac{a + b +c}{2} = \frac{13 + 9 + c}{2} = \frac{22 + c}{2}$

$S = \sqrt{p(p-a)(p-b)(p-c)}$

I believe when I find $b$, I will able to find $a$ too, but kinda stuck at that point.

nop
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    Careful, you used $a$ to denote two different things: $a=AB$, and $a=OC$. That's not a good idea. – jjagmath Mar 04 '22 at 11:56

2 Answers2

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You already noted that the diagonals are divided by half in the center. However, you're making it far too complicated by using the area.

Instead, take a look at the triangle $\triangle AOD$. You already know the length of two sides, $a=9$ and $c=13$ and their inclosed angle $\beta=\operatorname{arcsin} \frac{12}{13}\approx 67.38°$. With the help of the cosine theorem you get:

$$ b^2=a^2+c^2-2ac\cdot\cos \beta \\ b = \sqrt{81+169-2\cdot 9 \cdot 13\cdot\cos\left(\operatorname{arcsin} \frac{12}{13}\right)}=4\sqrt{10}\approx 12.65 $$

By using $\angle AOB = 90°-\angle AOD$ you can calculate the length of $a$ analogously within the triangle $\triangle AOB$.

LegNaiB
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  • Thank you for your answer! I'm confused about angle $\beta = \arcsin \displaystyle \frac{12}{13}$, which angle exactly is it? – nop Mar 04 '22 at 11:26
  • It's the one mentioned in the calculation of $b$, roughly $67.38$. However, I would prefer working with the exact values, so that you can really get the exact value of $4\sqrt{10}$ :) – LegNaiB Mar 04 '22 at 11:28
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$\cos AOD =\pm \sqrt{1-\sin^2 AOD}=\pm \sqrt{1-(12/13)^2}=\pm 5/13$.

Since $AOD < 90^\circ$, $\cos AOD = 5/13$

So $b^2=AO^2+OD^2-2 AO\cdot OD \cos AOD = 13^2+9^2-2\cdot 13\cdot 9\cdot (5/13)=160$.

Since $\sin DOC=\sin(180^\circ-AOD)=\sin AOD=12/13$, we also have $\cos DOC=\pm 5/13$, but this time we choose the minus sign since $DOC>90^\circ$, so $\cos DOC = -5/13$

So $a^2=DO^2+OC^2-2 DO\cdot OC \cos DOC = 9^2+13^2-2\cdot 9\cdot 13\cdot (-5/13)=340$.

jjagmath
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