According to R.J. Cook & G.V. Wood (2004). Feynman's Triangle. Mathematical Gazette 88:299-302, this triangle result puzzled famous physicist Richard Feynman in a dinner conversation: For a triangle ABC in the plane, if each vertex is joined to the point (1/3) along the opposite side (measured say anti-clockwise), then area ABC = 7 x area UWV (the inner triangle formed by these lines).
Feynman's Triangle
1. Can you prove the above result?
2. Can you generalize to find a formula for a triangle ABC in the plane, when each vertex is joined to the point (1/p), (p > 2) along the opposite side (measured say anti-clockwise)?
3. Have a look at Feynman Generalization for two dynamic sketches of special cases of Question 2 above.
4. Can you generalize the Feynman result for a triangle to a parallelogram?
5. Have a look at Feynman Parallelogram Generalization for three dynamic sketches of special cases of Question 4 above.
6. Also investigate the following variations: Feynman triangle variation and Feynman parallelogram variation
Michael de Villiers, Sept 2009.