We received good solutions from
several people. Let's start by looking at the solution sent in
by Tom of Wolgarston High School.
Firstly, let's consider the triangular problem. If instead of
coordinates we use vectors to describe the triangle, then we
can write ${\bf p}_1$, ${\bf p}_2$ and ${\bf p}_3$ to describe
the corners of the triangle (which we don't know yet) and ${\bf
m}_1$, ${\bf m}_2$ and ${\bf m}_3$ to describe the midpoints of
the lines.

If we can find a way of expressing each vector ${\bf p}_1$,
${\bf p}_2$ and ${\bf p}_3$ using just the vectors of the
midpoints, then we can locate the corners.
By the standard vector laws, the midpoint between any two
points descbribed by vectors is the average of those vectors.
So we get the following equations:
- ${\bf m}_1 = \frac{1}{2}({\bf p}_1 + {\bf p}_2)$
- ${\bf m}_2 = \frac{1}{2}({\bf p}_2 + {\bf p}_3)$
- ${\bf m}_3 = \frac{1}{2}({\bf p}_3 + {\bf p}_1)$
Now we solve the simultaneous equations to find
expressions for the corners. For ${\bf p}_1$ add equations 1
and 2 and then subtract equation 3. This gives the following:
${\bf p}_1 = {\bf m}_1 + {\bf m}_2 - {\bf m}_3 $
and similarly for ${\bf p}_2$ and ${\bf p}_3$ we get:
${\bf p}_2 = {\bf m}_2 + {\bf m}_3 - {\bf m}_1 $
${\bf p}_3 = {\bf m}_3 + {\bf m}_1 - {\bf m}_2 $
Thus we have expressed all the triangle's vertices as
expressions of their midpoints.
See if you can continue from here using
the same method for pentagons.
After looking at pentagons Tom then
went on to look at the quadrilaterals and he found that he
could no longer solve the simultaneous equations in the same
way. Ben Kenny noticed that if an arrangement of midpoints
produceded a quadrilateral then this quadrilateral was not
necessarily unique. For example:

Both quadrilaterals have the same midpoints but different
vertices.
Do you notice anything special about
when we can find a quadrilateral? Try connecting the midpoints.
Can you say anything interesting about the inner quadrilateral?
Try using Tom's method and see what properties you might be
able to gain by looking at the simultaneous
equations.