Problem of the Day

15 October 2008

Problem. A hexagon inscribed in a circle has three consecutive sides of

length a and three consecutive sides of length b. Determine the radius of the
circle.
Solution. Let R be the radius of the circle. One can rearrange the sides
of the hexagon so that each pair of consecutive sides are of lengths a and b.
Since all the angles of the hexagon are congruent, each is 120 . Applying the
Law of Cosines to two triangles with a common side, we have
2R2 2R2 cos 120 = a2 + b2 2ab cos 120 ,
which yields
r
R=

a2 + ab + b2
.
3