2006 AMC 8 Problems/Problem 5

Problem

Points $A, B, C$ and $D$ are midpoints of the sides of the larger square. If the larger square has area 60, what is the area of the smaller square?

[asy]size(100); draw((0,0)--(2,0)--(2,2)--(0,2)--cycle,linewidth(1)); draw((0,1)--(1,2)--(2,1)--(1,0)--cycle); label("$A$", (1,2), N); label("$B$", (2,1), E); label("$C$", (1,0), S); label("$D$", (0,1), W);[/asy]

$\textbf{(A)}\ 15 \qquad  \textbf{(B)}\ 20 \qquad  \textbf{(C)}\ 24 \qquad  \textbf{(D)}\ 30 \qquad  \textbf{(E)}\ 40$

Solution

Solution 1

Drawing segments $AC$ and $BD$, the number of triangles outside square $ABCD$ is the same as the number of triangles inside the square. Thus areas must be equal so the area of $ABCD$ is half the area of the larger square which is $\frac{60}{2}=\boxed{\textbf{(D)}\ 30 }$.

Solution 2

If the side length of the larger square is $x$, the side length of the smaller square is $\frac{\sqrt{2} \cdot x}{2}$. Therefore the area of the smaller square is $\frac{x^2}{2}$, half of the larger square's area, $x^2$.

Thus, the area of the smaller square in the picture is $\frac{60}{2}=\boxed{\textbf{(D)}\ 30 }$.

Solution 3

The smaller square forms four congruent isosceles right triangles whose legs measure half of the larger square's side length. Since the larger square has an area of $60$, its sides measure $\sqrt{60}=2\sqrt{15}$. Therefore, the legs of the right triangles measure $\sqrt{15}$. Now we can use the Pythagorean Theorem to find the length of the hypotenuses, or the smaller square's sides. We have \[\sqrt{{\sqrt{15}}^2+{\sqrt{15}}^2}=\sqrt{15+15}=\sqrt{30}.\] Squaring this, the area of the smaller square is $\boxed{\textbf{(D)}\ 30 }$.

Video Solution by OmegaLearn

https://youtu.be/j3QSD5eDpzU?t=822

~ pi_is_3.14


See Also

2006 AMC 8 (ProblemsAnswer KeyResources)
Preceded by
Problem 4
Followed by
Problem 6
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25
All AJHSME/AMC 8 Problems and Solutions

The problems on this page are copyrighted by the Mathematical Association of America's American Mathematics Competitions. AMC logo.png