If the points A (a, −11), B (5, b), C(2, 15) and D (1, 1) are the vertices of a parallelogram ABCD, find the values of a and b.
Let ABCD be a parallelogram in which the co-ordinates of the vertices are A (a,−11); B (5, b); C (2, 15) and D (1, 1).
Since ABCD is a parallelogram, the diagonals bisect each other. Therefore the mid-point of the diagonals of the parallelogram will coincide.
In general to find the mid-point $\mathrm{P}(x, y)$ of two points $\mathrm{A}\left(x_{1}, y_{1}\right)$ and $\mathrm{B}\left(x_{2}, y_{2}\right)$ we use section formula as,
$\mathrm{P}(x, y)=\left(\frac{x_{1}+x_{2}}{2}, \frac{y_{1}+y_{2}}{2}\right)$
The mid-point of the diagonals of the parallelogram will coincide.
So,
Co-ordinate of mid-point of $\mathrm{AC}=$ Co-ordinate of mid-point of $\mathrm{BD}$
Therefore,
$\left(\frac{a+2}{2}, \frac{15-11}{2}\right)=\left(\frac{5+1}{2}, \frac{b+1}{2}\right)$
Now equate the individual terms to get the unknown value. So,
$\frac{a+2}{2}=3$
$a=4$
Similarly,
$\frac{b+1}{2}=2$
$b=3$
Therefore,
$a=4$
$b=3$