# 2018 AMC 12B Problems/Problem 23

## Problem

Ajay is standing at point $A$ near Pontianak, Indonesia, $0^\circ$ latitude and $110^\circ \text{ E}$ longitude. Billy is standing at point $B$ near Big Baldy Mountain, Idaho, USA, $45^\circ \text{ N}$ latitude and $115^\circ \text{ W}$ longitude. Assume that Earth is a perfect sphere with center $C.$ What is the degree measure of $\angle ACB?$

$\textbf{(A) }105 \qquad \textbf{(B) }112\frac{1}{2} \qquad \textbf{(C) }120 \qquad \textbf{(D) }135 \qquad \textbf{(E) }150 \qquad$

## Diagram

$[asy] /* Made by MRENTHUSIASM */ size(250); import graph3; import solids; currentprojection=orthographic((0.2,-0.5,0.2)); triple A, B, C; A = (1,0,0); B = (-1/2,1/2,sqrt(2)/2); C = (0,0,0); draw(unitsphere,white,light=White); dot(A^^B^^C,linewidth(4.5)); draw(Circle(C,1,(0,0,1))^^A--C--B); label("A",A,3*dir(A)); label("B",B,3*dir(B)); label("C",C,3*(0,0,-1)); [/asy]$ ~MRENTHUSIASM

## Solution 1 (Tetrahedron)

This solution refers to the Diagram section.

Let $D$ be the orthogonal projection of $B$ onto the equator. Note that $\angle BDA = \angle BDC = 90^\circ$ and $\angle BCD = 45^\circ.$ Recall that $115^\circ \text{ W}$ longitude is the same as $245^\circ \text{ E}$ longitude, so $\angle ACD=135^\circ.$

We obtain the following diagram: $[asy] /* Made by MRENTHUSIASM */ size(250); import graph3; import solids; currentprojection=orthographic((0.2,-0.5,0.2)); triple A, B, C, D; A = (1,0,0); B = (-1/2,1/2,sqrt(2)/2); C = (0,0,0); D = (-1/2,1/2,0); draw(unitsphere,white,light=White); draw(surface(A--B--C--cycle),yellow); dot(A^^B^^C^^D,linewidth(4.5)); draw(Circle(C,1,(0,0,1))^^A--B--D--C--B^^C--A--D); label("A",A,3*dir(A)); label("B",B,3*dir(B)); label("C",C,3*(0,0,-1)); label("D",D,3*(-1/2,-1/2,0)); [/asy]$ Without the loss of generality, let $AC=BC=1.$ For tetrahedron $ABCD:$

1. Since $\triangle BCD$ is an isosceles right triangle, we have $BD=CD=\frac{\sqrt2}{2}.$
2. In $\triangle ACD,$ we apply the Law of Cosines to get $AD=\sqrt{AC^2+CD^2-2\cdot AC\cdot CD\cdot\cos\angle ACD}=\frac{\sqrt{10}}{2}.$
3. In right $\triangle ABD,$ we apply the Pythagorean Theorem to get $AB=\sqrt{AD^2+BD^2}=\sqrt{3}.$
4. In $\triangle ABC,$ we apply the Law of Cosines to get $\cos\angle ACB=\frac{AC^2+BC^2-AB^2}{2\cdot AC\cdot BC}=-\frac12,$ so $\angle ACB=\boxed{\textbf{(C) }120}$ degrees.

~MRENTHUSIASM

## Solution 2 (Cartesian Coordinates and Vectors)

This solution refers to the Diagram section.

Let $D$ be the orthogonal projection of $B$ onto the equator. Note that $\angle BDA = \angle BDC = 90^\circ$ and $\angle BCD = 45^\circ.$ Recall that $115^\circ \text{ W}$ longitude is the same as $245^\circ \text{ E}$ longitude, so $\angle ACD=135^\circ.$

Without the loss of generality, let $AC=BC=1.$ As shown below, we place Earth in the $xyz$-plane with $C=(0,0,0)$ such that the positive $x$-axis runs through $A,$ the positive $y$-axis runs through $0^\circ$ latitude and $160^\circ \text{ W}$ longitude, and the positive $z$-axis runs through the North Pole. $[asy] /* Made by MRENTHUSIASM */ size(300); import graph3; import solids; currentprojection=orthographic((0.2,-0.5,0.2)); triple A, B, C, D; A = (1,0,0); B = (-1/2,1/2,sqrt(2)/2); C = (0,0,0); D = (-1/2,1/2,0); draw(unitsphere,white,light=White); dot(A^^B^^C^^D,linewidth(4.5)); draw(Circle(C,1,(0,0,1))^^B--C--D--cycle); label("A",A,5*dir((2.5,-3,0))); label("B",B,3*dir(B)); label("C",C,1.5*(1,0,-1)); label("D",D,3*(-1/2,-1/2,0)); draw((-1.5,0,0)--(1.5,0,0),linewidth(1.25),EndArrow3(10)); draw((0,-1.5,0)--(0,1.5,0),linewidth(1.25),EndArrow3(10)); draw((0,0,-1.5)--(0,0,1.5),linewidth(1.25),EndArrow3(10)); label("x",(1.5,0,0),2*dir((1.5,0,0))); label("y",(0,1.5,0),3*dir((0,1.5,0))); label("z",(0,0,1.5),2*dir((0,0,1.5))); [/asy]$ It follows that $A=(1,0,0)$ and $D=(-t,t,0)$ for some positive number $t.$ Since $\triangle BCD$ is an isosceles right triangle, we have $B=\left(-t,t,\sqrt{2}t\right).$ By the Distance Formula, we get $(-t)^2+t^2+\left(\sqrt{2}t\right)^2=1,$ from which $t=\frac12.$

As $\vec{A} = \begin{pmatrix}1 \\ 0 \\ 0 \end{pmatrix}$ and $\vec{B} = \begin{pmatrix}-1/2 \\ 1/2 \\ \sqrt2/2 \end{pmatrix},$ we obtain $$\cos\angle ACB=\frac{\vec{A}\bullet\vec{B}}{\left\lVert\vec{A}\right\rVert\left\lVert\vec{B}\right\rVert}=-\frac12$$ by the dot product, so $\angle ACB=\boxed{\textbf{(C) }120}$ degrees.

~MRENTHUSIASM

## Solution 3 (Spherical Coordinates and Vectors)

This solution refers to the diagram in Solution 2.

In spherical coordinates $(\rho,\theta,\phi),$ note that $\rho,\theta,$ and $\phi$ represent the radial distance, the polar angle, and the azimuthal angle, respectively.

Without the loss of generality, let $AC=BC=1.$ As shown in Solution 2, we place Earth in the $xyz$-plane with origin $C$ such that the positive $x$-axis runs through $A,$ the positive $y$-axis runs through $0^\circ$ latitude and $160^\circ \text{ W}$ longitude, and the positive $z$-axis runs through the North Pole.

In spherical coordinates, we have $A=(1,90^\circ,0^\circ)$ and $B=(1,45^\circ,135^\circ).$ Now, we express $\vec{A}$ and $\vec{B}$ in Cartesian coordinates: $$\vec{A} = \begin{pmatrix}\sin90^\circ \cos0^\circ \\ \sin90^\circ \sin0^\circ \\ \cos90^\circ \end{pmatrix} = \begin{pmatrix}1 \\ 0 \\ 0 \end{pmatrix} \text{ and } \vec{B} = \begin{pmatrix}\sin45^\circ \cos135^\circ \\ \sin45^\circ \sin135^\circ \\ \cos45^\circ \end{pmatrix} = \begin{pmatrix}-1/2 \\ 1/2 \\ \sqrt2/2 \end{pmatrix}.$$ We continue with the last paragraph of Solution 2 to get the answer $\angle ACB=\boxed{\textbf{(C) }120}$ degrees.

~MRENTHUSIASM