The relative lengths of sides of convex hexagons and octagons (Q949357)

A chord of a convex body \(C\) is called an affine diameter of \(C\) if there is no longer parallel chord of \(C\). By the relative length of a segment \(ab\) we mean \(\lambda_C (a,b) = |ab| / ({1\over 2}|a'b'|)\), where \(a'b'\) is an affine diameter of \(C\) parallel to \(ab\). Here \(|ab|\) stands for the Euclidean distance of \(a\) and \(b\). Denote by \(\lambda_n\) the relative length of sides of the regular \(n\)-gon. We say that a side \(ab\) of a convex \(n\)-gon \(P\) is relatively long if \(\lambda_P (ab) \geq \lambda_n\), and we say that it is relatively short if \(\lambda_P (ab) \leq \lambda_n\). The main theorem says that every convex hexagon has a relatively long side, which confirms the conjecture presented in the paper [\textit{K. Doliwka} and \textit{M. Lassak}, Geom. Dedicata 56, 221--224 (1995; Zbl 0837.52001)]. Moreover, it is shown that every non-degenerated convex octagon has a side of relative length smaller than \(1\), and that this value cannot be lessened.