IMO 1967 · Problem 2

Prove that if one and only one edge of a tetrahedron is greater than 1, then its volume is \(\le 1/8\).

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

Solution

A degenerate tetrahedron has volume \(0\), so assume the tetrahedron is nondegenerate. Label its vertices \(A,B,C,D\) so that \(AB>1\). Thus all five other edges are at most \(1\).

Put \(CD=c\), where \(0<c\le1\), and let \(M\) be the midpoint of \(CD\). The median identity gives \[ AM^2=\frac{AC^2+AD^2}{2}-\frac{CD^2}{4} \le 1-\frac{c^2}{4}. \] Similarly, \[ BM^2\le 1-\frac{c^2}{4}. \]

Let \(h\) be the distance from \(A\) to the line \(CD\), and let \(H\) be the distance from \(B\) to the plane \(ACD\). Since \(M\) belongs to both that line and that plane, we have \(h\le AM\) and \(H\le BM\). Consequently, the volume \(V\) satisfies \[ V=\frac13\left(\frac12 ch\right)H \le \frac{c}{6}AM\cdot BM \le \frac{c}{6}\left(1-\frac{c^2}{4}\right) =\frac{4c-c^3}{24}. \] For \(0<c\le1\), \[ 3-(4c-c^3)=(1-c)(3-c-c^2)\ge0, \] because both factors are nonnegative. Therefore \[ \boxed{V\le\frac{3}{24}=\frac18}. \]

The bound is attained. For example, take \[ C=\left(-\frac12,0,0\right),\quad D=\left(\frac12,0,0\right),\quad A=\left(0,\frac{\sqrt3}{2},0\right),\quad B=\left(0,0,\frac{\sqrt3}{2}\right). \] Here \(AB=\sqrt{3/2}>1\), while every other edge equals \(1\). The base \(ACD\) has area \(\sqrt3/4\), and the corresponding height is \(\sqrt3/2\), giving volume \(1/8\).

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