1982 AHSME Problems/Problem 9
Problem
A vertical line divides the triangle with vertices , and in the into two regions of equal area. The equation of the line is
Solution
The vertical line that divides into two equal regions has equation as shown in the diagram. The area of is half of the height times so because the Y coordinate of A is 1 and is the height, because the difference of the x coordinates between and is we have Thus the two regions must have area each.
Since has area we know that the portion of made by the points and the intersection and will be less than which is less than half of the triangle's area, or 2. Therefore is to the left of vertical line (Passing through point ).
The equation of line BC is and the vertical line intersects at the point Because the area of the portion of on the right is 2, we have or Therefore so