Let the three sides of a triangle are on the lines , , and . Then the distance of its orthocenter from the orthocenter of the triangle formed by the lines , , and is
- A
- B
- C
- D
Let the three sides of a triangle are on the lines , , and . Then the distance of its orthocenter from the orthocenter of the triangle formed by the lines , , and is
Correct answer:B
Standard Method
Given: The sides of the first triangle lie on , , and .
Find: The distance between its orthocenter and the orthocenter of the triangle formed by , , and .
The orthocenter of a triangle is the intersection of its altitudes.
For the first triangle, check whether any two sides are perpendicular.
The line has slope . The line has slope . Since
these two lines are perpendicular. Therefore, the triangle is right-angled at their point of intersection, so its orthocenter is that intersection point.
Solve
which gives and . Hence the orthocenter of the first triangle is .
Now consider the triangle formed by , , and . This is a right triangle at the origin, so its orthocenter is .
Therefore, the required distance is
So the correct option is B.
Using the right-triangle orthocenter property
Given: The triangle is formed by the lines , , and .
Find: The distance from its orthocenter to the orthocenter of the triangle formed by , , and .
Principle used: In a right triangle, the orthocenter lies at the vertex of the right angle.
For ,
so its slope is .
For ,
so its slope is .
Their product is
Hence these two sides are perpendicular.
So the orthocenter of the first triangle is the intersection of
and
Using
we obtain .
The second triangle is bounded by the coordinate axes and the line , so it is right-angled at . Therefore its orthocenter is .
Now compute the distance:
Therefore, the distance is , so the correct option is B.
A common mistake is to find all three vertices of the first triangle before locating the orthocenter. This is unnecessary here because two sides are perpendicular. In a right triangle, the orthocenter is directly the right-angled vertex.
Students may compute the slope of incorrectly as . Rearranging carefully gives , so the slope is , not negative.
Another mistake is to assume the triangle formed by , , and has orthocenter at some interior point. Since it is a right triangle, the orthocenter is exactly at the origin where the perpendicular sides meet.
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