Putnam 1946 A3

A projectile in flight is observed simultaneously from four radio stations which are situated at the corners of a square of side $b$ . The distances of the projectile from the four stations, taken in order around the square, are found to be $R_1 , R_2 , R_3$ and $R_4$ . Show that $$R_{1}^{2}+ R_{3}^{2}= R_{2}^{2}+ R_{4}^{2}.$$ Show also that the height $h$ of the projectile above the ground is given by $$h^{2}=- \frac{1}{2} b^2 +\frac{1}{4}(R_{1}^{2}+R_{2}^{2}+R_{3}^{2}+R_{4}^{2}) -\frac{1}{8 b^{2}}(R_{1}^{4}+R_{2}^{4}+R_{3}^{4}+R_{4}^{4}- 2 R_{1}^{2}R_{3}^{2} -2 R_{2}^{2} R_{4}^{2}).$$