IMO 1965 · Problem 3

Given the tetrahedron \(ABCD\) whose edges \(AB\) and \(CD\) have lengths \(a\) and \(b\) respectively. The distance between the skew lines \(AB\) and \(CD\) is \(d\), and the angle between them is \(\omega\). Tetrahedron \(ABCD\) is divided into two solids by plane \(\varepsilon\), parallel to lines \(AB\) and \(CD\). The ratio of the distances of \(\varepsilon\) from \(AB\) and \(CD\) is equal to \(k\). Compute the ratio of the volumes of the two solids obtained.

Official text of the problem. Official problem paper (PDF)

Answer

The volume of the solid containing \(AB\) to that of the solid containing \(CD\) is \[ \boxed{k^{2}(k+3):(3k+1)}. \]

Solution

Let the distances of \(\varepsilon\) from \(AB\) and \(CD\) be \(h\) and \(\ell\), respectively. Since the plane divides the tetrahedron into two solids, these edges lie on opposite sides of it, and \(h,\ell>0\). Put \[ t=\frac{h}{h+\ell}=\frac{k}{1+k},\qquad 0<t<1. \]

Let \(\varepsilon\) intersect \(AC,BC,BD,AD\) at \(E,F,G,H\), respectively. Perpendicular distance between parallel planes varies linearly along a segment, so \[ \frac{AE}{AC}=\frac{BF}{BC} =\frac{BG}{BD}=\frac{AH}{AD}=t. \] By similarity in the four faces, \[ EF\parallel GH\parallel AB, \qquad FG\parallel EH\parallel CD. \] Thus the section \(EFGH\) is a parallelogram.

Write \(V\) for the volume of \(ABCD\). The solid containing \(AB\) is partitioned into tetrahedron \(ABFG\) and pyramid \(A\!-\!EFGH\). Indeed, its only faces not containing \(A\) are \(BFG\) and \(EFGH\); a ray from \(A\) through an interior point exits through one of these faces. Coning these two faces to \(A\) therefore gives the asserted partition, with disjoint interiors.

Triangle \(BFG\) is similar to triangle \(BCD\) with length ratio \(t\). The tetrahedra with these bases and common vertex \(A\) have the same altitude, hence \[ \operatorname{Vol}(ABFG)=t^{2}V. \]

The diagonal \(EG\) divides the parallelogram \(EFGH\) into two triangles of equal area. Consequently, the pyramid \(A\!-\!EFGH\) consists of two tetrahedra \(AEFG\) and \(AEGH\) of equal volume.

To calculate the latter volume, use \(AEH\) as its base. Triangle \(AEH\) is similar to \(ACD\) with length ratio \(t\), so its area is \(t^{2}\) times that of \(ACD\). Furthermore, since \(BG/BD=t\) and \(D\) lies in plane \(ACD\), the distance of \(G\) from that plane is \(1-t\) times the distance of \(B\). The pyramid volume formula therefore gives \[ \operatorname{Vol}(AEGH)=t^{2}(1-t)V. \]

It follows that the volume \(V_{AB}\) of the solid containing \(AB\) is \[ V_{AB}=t^{2}V+2t^{2}(1-t)V =t^{2}(3-2t)V. \] The other volume is \[ V_{CD}=V-V_{AB} =(1-t)^{2}(1+2t)V. \] Substituting \(t=k/(1+k)\), we obtain \[ \frac{V_{AB}}{V_{CD}} =\frac{t^{2}(3-2t)}{(1-t)^{2}(1+2t)} =\boxed{\frac{k^{2}(k+3)}{3k+1}}. \]

The stated division requires \(k>0\). If boundary positions are admitted, a plane through \(AB\) gives the volume ratio \(0:1\), and a plane through \(CD\) gives \(1:0\), corresponding to \(t=0\) and \(t=1\).

The solution was checked against John Scholes' IMO solution archive (Kalva).