Difference between revisions of "2017 AMC 12B Problems/Problem 15"
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− | Recall The Law of Cosines. Letting <math>A'B'=B'C'=C'A'=y</math>, <cmath>y^2=(3x)^2+(x+3x)^2-2(3x)(x+3x)(cos120) = </cmath> <cmath>(3x)^2+(4x)^2-2(3x)(4x)(cos120)=9x^2+16x^2- | + | Recall The Law of Cosines. Letting <math>A'B'=B'C'=C'A'=y</math>, <cmath>y^2=(3x)^2+(x+3x)^2-2(3x)(x+3x)(cos120) = </cmath> <cmath>(3x)^2+(4x)^2-2(3x)(4x)(cos120)=9x^2+16x^2-24xcos120=25x^2+12x^2=37x^2.</cmath> Since both <math>\triangle ABC</math> and <math>\triangle A'B'C'</math> are both equilateral triangles, they must be similar due to <math>AA</math> similarity. This means that <math>\frac{A'B'}{AB}</math> <math>=</math> <math>\frac{B'C'}{BC}</math> <math>=</math> <math>\frac{C'A'}{CA}</math> <math>=</math> <math>\frac{[\triangle A'B'C']}{[\triangle ABC]}</math> <math>=</math> <math>\frac{37}{1}</math>. |
Revision as of 01:19, 5 January 2018
Contents
[hide]Problem 15
Let be an equilateral triangle. Extend side beyond to a point so that . Similarly, extend side beyond to a point so that , and extend side beyond to a point so that . What is the ratio of the area of to the area of ?
Solution 1: Law of Cosines
Solution by HydroQuantum
Let .
Recall The Law of Cosines. Letting , Since both and are both equilateral triangles, they must be similar due to similarity. This means that .
Therefore, our answer is .
Solution 2: Inspection
Note that the height and base of are respectively 4 times and 3 times that of . Therefore the area of is 12 times that of .
By symmetry, . Adding the areas of these three triangles and for the total area of gives a ratio of , or .
Solution 3: Coordinates
First we note that due to symmetry. WLOG, let and Therefore, . Using the condition that , we get and . It is easy to check that . Since the area ratios of two similar figures is the square of the ratio of their lengths, the ratio is
Solution by mathwiz0803
2017 AMC 12B (Problems • Answer Key • Resources) | |
Preceded by Problem 14 |
Followed by Problem 16 |
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Preceded by Problem 18 |
Followed by Problem 20 | |
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