Variation of the sum of distances












1














Let $l$ be a line and $A$ and $B$ two points not on $l$. To find the point $P$ for which $AP+PB$ is minimum we take the intersection of $l$ and the line joining $B$ and the symmetric $A'$ of $A$ with respect to $l$. For any point $M$ of $l$ other than $P$ we have $AM+MB=A'M+MB>A'B=AP+PB$ so $P$ is the desired point.



My question is $color{red}{text{how to prove that $AM+MB$ increases with $PM$?}}$.



My attempt: If $M'$ is another point of $l$ such that $PM'>PM$ then $AM<AM'+MM'$ and $BM<BM'+MM'$. I want to prove that $AM+MB<AM'+M'B$ using only the triangle inequality.










share|cite|improve this question









New contributor




Trump is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.

























    1














    Let $l$ be a line and $A$ and $B$ two points not on $l$. To find the point $P$ for which $AP+PB$ is minimum we take the intersection of $l$ and the line joining $B$ and the symmetric $A'$ of $A$ with respect to $l$. For any point $M$ of $l$ other than $P$ we have $AM+MB=A'M+MB>A'B=AP+PB$ so $P$ is the desired point.



    My question is $color{red}{text{how to prove that $AM+MB$ increases with $PM$?}}$.



    My attempt: If $M'$ is another point of $l$ such that $PM'>PM$ then $AM<AM'+MM'$ and $BM<BM'+MM'$. I want to prove that $AM+MB<AM'+M'B$ using only the triangle inequality.










    share|cite|improve this question









    New contributor




    Trump is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
    Check out our Code of Conduct.























      1












      1








      1







      Let $l$ be a line and $A$ and $B$ two points not on $l$. To find the point $P$ for which $AP+PB$ is minimum we take the intersection of $l$ and the line joining $B$ and the symmetric $A'$ of $A$ with respect to $l$. For any point $M$ of $l$ other than $P$ we have $AM+MB=A'M+MB>A'B=AP+PB$ so $P$ is the desired point.



      My question is $color{red}{text{how to prove that $AM+MB$ increases with $PM$?}}$.



      My attempt: If $M'$ is another point of $l$ such that $PM'>PM$ then $AM<AM'+MM'$ and $BM<BM'+MM'$. I want to prove that $AM+MB<AM'+M'B$ using only the triangle inequality.










      share|cite|improve this question









      New contributor




      Trump is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
      Check out our Code of Conduct.











      Let $l$ be a line and $A$ and $B$ two points not on $l$. To find the point $P$ for which $AP+PB$ is minimum we take the intersection of $l$ and the line joining $B$ and the symmetric $A'$ of $A$ with respect to $l$. For any point $M$ of $l$ other than $P$ we have $AM+MB=A'M+MB>A'B=AP+PB$ so $P$ is the desired point.



      My question is $color{red}{text{how to prove that $AM+MB$ increases with $PM$?}}$.



      My attempt: If $M'$ is another point of $l$ such that $PM'>PM$ then $AM<AM'+MM'$ and $BM<BM'+MM'$. I want to prove that $AM+MB<AM'+M'B$ using only the triangle inequality.







      geometry euclidean-geometry triangle reflection






      share|cite|improve this question









      New contributor




      Trump is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
      Check out our Code of Conduct.











      share|cite|improve this question









      New contributor




      Trump is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
      Check out our Code of Conduct.









      share|cite|improve this question




      share|cite|improve this question








      edited yesterday





















      New contributor




      Trump is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
      Check out our Code of Conduct.









      asked Dec 30 '18 at 17:01









      Trump

      62




      62




      New contributor




      Trump is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
      Check out our Code of Conduct.





      New contributor





      Trump is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
      Check out our Code of Conduct.






      Trump is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
      Check out our Code of Conduct.






















          1 Answer
          1






          active

          oldest

          votes


















          0














          Sometimes a figure is worth a thousand words:



          enter image description here



          This distance from $A$ to $B$ via the line is the same as the distance from $A$ to $B'$... the shortest of which is a straight line. Using the elementary fact from Euclidean geometry that the shortest distance between two points is a straight line we see:
          $color{red}{text{all other such paths (see green) must be longer.}}$ Proof completed.






          share|cite|improve this answer



















          • 1




            Using your image Let $M'$ be another point on the black line. Draw the path $AM'B'$ in blue. How to prove that if $PM'>PM$ then the blue path is longer then the green path?
            – Trump
            Dec 30 '18 at 17:38











          Your Answer





          StackExchange.ifUsing("editor", function () {
          return StackExchange.using("mathjaxEditing", function () {
          StackExchange.MarkdownEditor.creationCallbacks.add(function (editor, postfix) {
          StackExchange.mathjaxEditing.prepareWmdForMathJax(editor, postfix, [["$", "$"], ["\\(","\\)"]]);
          });
          });
          }, "mathjax-editing");

          StackExchange.ready(function() {
          var channelOptions = {
          tags: "".split(" "),
          id: "69"
          };
          initTagRenderer("".split(" "), "".split(" "), channelOptions);

          StackExchange.using("externalEditor", function() {
          // Have to fire editor after snippets, if snippets enabled
          if (StackExchange.settings.snippets.snippetsEnabled) {
          StackExchange.using("snippets", function() {
          createEditor();
          });
          }
          else {
          createEditor();
          }
          });

          function createEditor() {
          StackExchange.prepareEditor({
          heartbeatType: 'answer',
          autoActivateHeartbeat: false,
          convertImagesToLinks: true,
          noModals: true,
          showLowRepImageUploadWarning: true,
          reputationToPostImages: 10,
          bindNavPrevention: true,
          postfix: "",
          imageUploader: {
          brandingHtml: "Powered by u003ca class="icon-imgur-white" href="https://imgur.com/"u003eu003c/au003e",
          contentPolicyHtml: "User contributions licensed under u003ca href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/"u003ecc by-sa 3.0 with attribution requiredu003c/au003e u003ca href="https://stackoverflow.com/legal/content-policy"u003e(content policy)u003c/au003e",
          allowUrls: true
          },
          noCode: true, onDemand: true,
          discardSelector: ".discard-answer"
          ,immediatelyShowMarkdownHelp:true
          });


          }
          });






          Trump is a new contributor. Be nice, and check out our Code of Conduct.










          draft saved

          draft discarded


















          StackExchange.ready(
          function () {
          StackExchange.openid.initPostLogin('.new-post-login', 'https%3a%2f%2fmath.stackexchange.com%2fquestions%2f3057009%2fvariation-of-the-sum-of-distances%23new-answer', 'question_page');
          }
          );

          Post as a guest















          Required, but never shown

























          1 Answer
          1






          active

          oldest

          votes








          1 Answer
          1






          active

          oldest

          votes









          active

          oldest

          votes






          active

          oldest

          votes









          0














          Sometimes a figure is worth a thousand words:



          enter image description here



          This distance from $A$ to $B$ via the line is the same as the distance from $A$ to $B'$... the shortest of which is a straight line. Using the elementary fact from Euclidean geometry that the shortest distance between two points is a straight line we see:
          $color{red}{text{all other such paths (see green) must be longer.}}$ Proof completed.






          share|cite|improve this answer



















          • 1




            Using your image Let $M'$ be another point on the black line. Draw the path $AM'B'$ in blue. How to prove that if $PM'>PM$ then the blue path is longer then the green path?
            – Trump
            Dec 30 '18 at 17:38
















          0














          Sometimes a figure is worth a thousand words:



          enter image description here



          This distance from $A$ to $B$ via the line is the same as the distance from $A$ to $B'$... the shortest of which is a straight line. Using the elementary fact from Euclidean geometry that the shortest distance between two points is a straight line we see:
          $color{red}{text{all other such paths (see green) must be longer.}}$ Proof completed.






          share|cite|improve this answer



















          • 1




            Using your image Let $M'$ be another point on the black line. Draw the path $AM'B'$ in blue. How to prove that if $PM'>PM$ then the blue path is longer then the green path?
            – Trump
            Dec 30 '18 at 17:38














          0












          0








          0






          Sometimes a figure is worth a thousand words:



          enter image description here



          This distance from $A$ to $B$ via the line is the same as the distance from $A$ to $B'$... the shortest of which is a straight line. Using the elementary fact from Euclidean geometry that the shortest distance between two points is a straight line we see:
          $color{red}{text{all other such paths (see green) must be longer.}}$ Proof completed.






          share|cite|improve this answer














          Sometimes a figure is worth a thousand words:



          enter image description here



          This distance from $A$ to $B$ via the line is the same as the distance from $A$ to $B'$... the shortest of which is a straight line. Using the elementary fact from Euclidean geometry that the shortest distance between two points is a straight line we see:
          $color{red}{text{all other such paths (see green) must be longer.}}$ Proof completed.







          share|cite|improve this answer














          share|cite|improve this answer



          share|cite|improve this answer








          edited Dec 30 '18 at 17:36

























          answered Dec 30 '18 at 17:18









          David G. Stork

          9,90521232




          9,90521232








          • 1




            Using your image Let $M'$ be another point on the black line. Draw the path $AM'B'$ in blue. How to prove that if $PM'>PM$ then the blue path is longer then the green path?
            – Trump
            Dec 30 '18 at 17:38














          • 1




            Using your image Let $M'$ be another point on the black line. Draw the path $AM'B'$ in blue. How to prove that if $PM'>PM$ then the blue path is longer then the green path?
            – Trump
            Dec 30 '18 at 17:38








          1




          1




          Using your image Let $M'$ be another point on the black line. Draw the path $AM'B'$ in blue. How to prove that if $PM'>PM$ then the blue path is longer then the green path?
          – Trump
          Dec 30 '18 at 17:38




          Using your image Let $M'$ be another point on the black line. Draw the path $AM'B'$ in blue. How to prove that if $PM'>PM$ then the blue path is longer then the green path?
          – Trump
          Dec 30 '18 at 17:38










          Trump is a new contributor. Be nice, and check out our Code of Conduct.










          draft saved

          draft discarded


















          Trump is a new contributor. Be nice, and check out our Code of Conduct.













          Trump is a new contributor. Be nice, and check out our Code of Conduct.












          Trump is a new contributor. Be nice, and check out our Code of Conduct.
















          Thanks for contributing an answer to Mathematics Stack Exchange!


          • Please be sure to answer the question. Provide details and share your research!

          But avoid



          • Asking for help, clarification, or responding to other answers.

          • Making statements based on opinion; back them up with references or personal experience.


          Use MathJax to format equations. MathJax reference.


          To learn more, see our tips on writing great answers.





          Some of your past answers have not been well-received, and you're in danger of being blocked from answering.


          Please pay close attention to the following guidance:


          • Please be sure to answer the question. Provide details and share your research!

          But avoid



          • Asking for help, clarification, or responding to other answers.

          • Making statements based on opinion; back them up with references or personal experience.


          To learn more, see our tips on writing great answers.




          draft saved


          draft discarded














          StackExchange.ready(
          function () {
          StackExchange.openid.initPostLogin('.new-post-login', 'https%3a%2f%2fmath.stackexchange.com%2fquestions%2f3057009%2fvariation-of-the-sum-of-distances%23new-answer', 'question_page');
          }
          );

          Post as a guest















          Required, but never shown





















































          Required, but never shown














          Required, but never shown












          Required, but never shown







          Required, but never shown

































          Required, but never shown














          Required, but never shown












          Required, but never shown







          Required, but never shown







          Popular posts from this blog

          Mario Kart Wii

          What does “Dominus providebit” mean?

          Antonio Litta Visconti Arese