I read this formula in some book but it didn't provide a proof so I thought someone on this website could figure it out. What it says is:
If we consider 3 non-concurrent, non parallel lines represented by the equations :
$$a_1x+b_1y+c_1=0$$
$$a_2x+b_2y+c_2=0$$
$$a_3x+b_3y+c_3=0$$
Then the area of the triangle that these lines will enclose is given by the magnitude of :
$$\frac{det\begin{bmatrix}a_1 & b_1 & c_1\\a_2 & b_2 & c_2\\a_3 & b_3 & c_3\end{bmatrix}^2}{2C_1C_2C_3}$$
Where $C_1,C_2,C_3$ are the co-factors of $c_1,c_2,c_3$ respectively in the above matrix.
What I'm wondering is, where did this come from? And why isn't it famous? Earlier we had to calculate areas by finding the vertices and all but this does it in a minute or so and thus deserves more familiarity.
Best Answer
Clearly, we can scale the coefficients of a given linear equation by any (non-zero) constant and the result is unchanged. Therefore, by dividing-through by $\sqrt{a_i^2+b_i^2}$, we may assume our equations are in "normal form":
$$\begin{align} x \cos\theta + y \sin\theta - p &= 0 \\ x \cos\phi + y \sin\phi - q &= 0 \\ x \cos\psi + y \sin\psi - r &= 0 \end{align}$$
with $\theta$, $\phi$, $\psi$ and $p$, $q$, $r$ (and $A$, $B$, $C$ and $a$, $b$, $c$) as in the figure:
Then
$$C_1 = \left|\begin{array}{cc} \cos\phi & \sin\phi \\ \cos\psi & \sin\psi \end{array} \right| = \sin\psi\cos\phi - \cos\psi\sin\phi = \sin(\psi-\phi) = \sin \angle ROQ = \sin A$$ Likewise, $$C_2 = \sin B \qquad C_3 = \sin C$$
Moreover, $$D := \left|\begin{array}{ccc} \cos\theta & \sin\theta & - p \\ \cos\phi & \sin\phi & - q \\ \cos\psi & \sin\psi & - r \end{array}\right| = - \left( p C_1 + q C_2 + r C_3 \right) = - \left(\;p \sin A + q \sin B + r \sin C\;\right)$$
Writing $d$ for the circumdiameter of the triangle, the Law of Sines tells us that $$\frac{a}{\sin A} = \frac{b}{\sin B} = \frac{c}{\sin C} = d$$
Therefore,
$$\begin{align} D &= - \left( \frac{ap}{d} + \frac{bq}{d} + \frac{cr}{d} \right) \\[4pt] &= -\frac{1}{d}\left(\;ap + b q + c r\;\right) \\[4pt] &= -\frac{1}{d}\left(\;2|\triangle COB| + 2|\triangle AOC| + 2|\triangle BOA| \;\right) \\[4pt] &= -\frac{2\;|\triangle ABC|}{d} \end{align}$$
Also, $$C_1 C_2 C_3 = \sin A \sin B \sin C = \frac{a}{d}\frac{b}{d}\sin C= \frac{2\;|\triangle ABC|}{d^2}$$
Finally: $$\frac{D^2}{2C_1C_2C_3} = \frac{4\;|\triangle ABC|^2/d^2}{4\;|\triangle ABC|/d^2} = |\triangle ABC|$$