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The following is a geometry puzzle from a math school book. Even though it has been a long time since I finished school, I remember this puzzle quite well, and I don't have a nice solution to it.

So here is the puzzle:

alt text

The triangle $ABC$ is known to be isosceles, that is, $AC=BC$. The labelled angles are known to be $\alpha=\gamma=20°$, $\beta=30°$. The task is to find the angle labelled "?".

The only solution that I know of is to use the sine formula and cosine formula several times. From this one can obtain a numerical solution. Moreover this number can be algebraically shown to be correct (all sines and cosines are contained in the real subfield of the 36th cyclotomic field). So in this sense I solved the problem, but the solution is kind of a brute force attack (for example, some of the polynomials that show up in the computation have coefficients > 1000000). Since the puzzle originates from a book that deals only with elemetary geometry (and not even trigonometry if I remember correctly) there has to be a more elegant solution.

  • 0
    One geometric trick is add a few lines to create an equilateral triangle; then it's a straightforward geometric argument.2010-10-16
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    @Robin: entering a return when commenting posts your comment. Just let it word wrap. I have made the same mistake.2010-10-16
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    @Ross (and @Robin): Please ask the Stack Exchange people to fix this "feature": [Pressing Enter in comment box unexpectedly submits form](http://meta.stackexchange.com/questions/63644/pressing-enter-in-comment-box-unexpectedly-submits-form/)2010-10-16
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    I wonder if there is a way to solve it for any alpha beta and gamma.2010-10-16
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    I have changed the title. In future, I suggest you try to use a more appropriate title. Titles like "A geometry puzzle" are too generic.2010-10-16
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    Isn't this question asked?2011-11-20
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    @ChaoXu, I have written four distinct solutions including the general solution.2016-11-10

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