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Given any positive integer $n\ge3$ how to show that there are $n$ distinct points in the plane such that

1- the distance between any two points is irrational number and

2- each set of three points determines a non-degenerate triangle whose area is a rational number

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    I want to Prove by induction (may be) that for any $n\ge3$ there exist $n$ points in the plane such that .....2012-07-11

1 Answers 1

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Look at the points $(x,x^2)$ where $x$ is a non-negative integer. These are lattice points, so the area of any triangle they determine is rational, indeed of the form $k/2$, where $k$ is an integer.

Now calculate the distance between $(a,a^2)$ and $(b,b^2)$, where $b\gt a$. The square of the distance is $(b-a)^2+(b^2-a^2)^2,$ which is $(b-a)^2(1+(b+a)^2)$. This cannot be a perfect square, since $1+(b+a)^2$ cannot be: $x^2+1$ is a perfect square only when $x=0$.