I used qepcad to compute that the intersection of the set of possible area ratios with the interval [1/2, 3/4] is (1/2, 3/4). Since the set of possible area ratios is the image of a connected space under a continuous function, and we know the set contains (1/2, 3/4), but not 1/2 or 3/4, it must equal (1/2, 3/4). Here is a log of the qepcad session.
======================================================= Quantifier Elimination in Elementary Algebra and Geometry by Partial Cylindrical Algebraic Decomposition Version B 1.53, 16 Jul 2009 by Hoon Hong ([email protected]) With contributions by: Christopher W. Brown, George E. Collins, Mark J. Encarnacion, Jeremy R. Johnson Werner Krandick, Richard Liska, Scott McCallum, Nicolas Robidoux, and Stanly Steinberg ======================================================= Enter an informal description between '[' and ']': [ area of middle pentagon ] Enter a variable list: (a,x1,y1,x2,y2) Enter the number of free variables: 1 Enter a prenex formula: (E x1)(E y1)(E x2)(E y2)[ [ a >= 1/2 /\ a <= 3/4 ] /\ x1 > 0 /\ y1 > 0 /\ 1 - x1 - y1 < 0 /\ x2 > 0 /\ x2 y1 + y2 - x1 y2 - y1 < 0 /\ x1 + x2 y1 - x2 - x1 y2 < 0 /\ a (1/2)(y1 + x1 y2 - x2 y1 + x2) = (1/8)(0 - 1 + x1 + 2 x2 + 2 y1 + y2 + 2 x1 y2 - 2 x2 y1) ]. ======================================================= Before Normalization > finish An equivalent quantifier-free formula: 2 a - 1 > 0 /\ 4 a - 3 < 0 ===================== The End ======================= ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- 12 Garbage collections, 473385670 Cells and 0 Arrays reclaimed, in 8158 milliseconds. 1345504 Cells in AVAIL, 40000000 Cells in SPACE. System time: 79624 milliseconds. System time after the initialization: 79028 milliseconds. -----------------------------------------------------------------------------