Question 6
Prove that the ratio of the areas of two similar triangles is equal to the square of the ratio of their corresponding medians.
Given, AM and DN are the medians of triangles ABC and DEF respectively and ΔABC ΔDEF.
To Prove that area(ΔABC)area(ΔDEF)=AM2DN2
Proof
ΔABC ΔDEF (Given)
∴area(ΔABC)area(ΔDEF)=AB2DE2...(i)
[ Because the areas of two similar triangles are proportional to the squares of the corresponding sides.]
and, ABDE=BCEF=CAFD...(ii)
⇒ABDE=12BC12EF=CAFD........(iii)
In ΔABM and ΔDEN, we have
∠B=∠E [Since ΔABC ΔDEF]
ABDE=BMEN [from (iii)]
∴ΔABM and ΔDEN [By SAS similarity criterion]
⇒ABDE=AMDN...(iii)
∴area(ΔABC)area(ΔDEF) =AB2DE2=AM2DN2.Hence proved.