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Lattice polygon
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Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge
/
2025
/
ia
/
Paper 4
/
5F
/
Solution
Created
2026-09-23
Updated
2026-09-25
View more
If
2
+
3
were rational, squaring would make
6
rational,
a
contradiction. Also
tan
(
π
/8
)
=
2
+
1
1
=
2
−
1
,
(1)
so it is irrational but algebraic, satisfying
x
2
+
2
x
−
1
=
0
.
For
lattice
vertices
u
,
v
,
w
, the
triangle
area
is
2
1
∣
det
(
v
−
u
,
w
−
u
)
∣
,
(2)
a
half-integer
. Triangulating
a
convex
lattice polygon
from one
vertex
makes its
area
rational.
A
regular
octagon
of side
length
s
has
area
2
(
1
+
2
)
s
2
.
Lattice
endpoints make
s
2
a
positive integer
, so this
area
would be irrational, contradicting the preceding result. Hence no such
octagon
exists.
Total
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:
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