Difference between revisions of "2005 AIME I Problems/Problem 10"
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=== Solution 3 === | === Solution 3 === | ||
− | Let <math>A'</math> be the point <math>(17, 22)</math>, which lies along the line through <math>M</math> of slope <math>-5</math>. The area of triangle <math>A'BC</math> can be computed in a number of ways (one possibility: extend <math>A'B</math> until it hits the line <math>y = 19</math>, and subtract one triangle from another), and each such calculation gives an area of 14. This is <math>\frac{1}{5}</math> of our needed area, so we simply need the point <math>A</math> to be 5 times as far from <math>M</math> as <math>A'</math> is. Thus <math>A = \left(\frac{35}{2}, \frac{39}{2}\right) \pm 5\left(-\frac{1}{2}, \frac{5}{2}\right)</math>, and the sum of coordinates will be larger if we take the positive value, so <math>A = \left(\frac{35}{2} - \frac{5}2, \frac{39}{2} + \frac{25}{2}\right)</math> and the answer is <math>\frac{35}{2} - \frac{5}2 + \frac{39}{2} + \frac{25}{2} = 047</math>. | + | Again, the [[midpoint]] <math>M</math> of [[line segment]] <math>\overline{BC}</math> is at <math>\left(\frac{35}{2}, \frac{39}{2}\right)</math>. Let <math>A'</math> be the point <math>(17, 22)</math>, which lies along the line through <math>M</math> of slope <math>-5</math>. The area of triangle <math>A'BC</math> can be computed in a number of ways (one possibility: extend <math>A'B</math> until it hits the line <math>y = 19</math>, and subtract one triangle from another), and each such calculation gives an area of 14. This is <math>\frac{1}{5}</math> of our needed area, so we simply need the point <math>A</math> to be 5 times as far from <math>M</math> as <math>A'</math> is. Thus <math>A = \left(\frac{35}{2}, \frac{39}{2}\right) \pm 5\left(-\frac{1}{2}, \frac{5}{2}\right)</math>, and the sum of coordinates will be larger if we take the positive value, so <math>A = \left(\frac{35}{2} - \frac{5}2, \frac{39}{2} + \frac{25}{2}\right)</math> and the answer is <math>\frac{35}{2} - \frac{5}2 + \frac{39}{2} + \frac{25}{2} = 047</math>. |
== See also == | == See also == |
Revision as of 13:16, 15 March 2008
Problem
Triangle lies in the Cartesian Plane and has an area of 70. The coordinates of and are and respectively, and the coordinates of are The line containing the median to side has slope Find the largest possible value of
Solution
Solution 1
The midpoint of line segment is . The equation of the median can be found by . Cross multiply and simplify to yield that , so .
Use determinants to find that the area of is (note that there is a missing absolute value; we will assume that the other solution for the triangle will give a smaller value of , which is provable by following these steps over again). We can calculate this determinant to become . Thus, .
Setting this equation equal to the equation of the median, we get that , so . Solving produces that . Substituting backwards yields that ; the solution is .
Solution 2
Using the equation of the median from above, we can write the coordinates of as . The equation of is , so . In general form, the line is . Use the equation for the distance between a line and point to find the distance between and (which is the height of ): . Now we need the length of , which is . The area of is . Thus, , and . We are looking for . The maximum possible value of .
Solution 3
Again, the midpoint of line segment is at . Let be the point , which lies along the line through of slope . The area of triangle can be computed in a number of ways (one possibility: extend until it hits the line , and subtract one triangle from another), and each such calculation gives an area of 14. This is of our needed area, so we simply need the point to be 5 times as far from as is. Thus , and the sum of coordinates will be larger if we take the positive value, so and the answer is .
See also
2005 AIME I (Problems • Answer Key • Resources) | ||
Preceded by Problem 9 |
Followed by Problem 11 | |
1 • 2 • 3 • 4 • 5 • 6 • 7 • 8 • 9 • 10 • 11 • 12 • 13 • 14 • 15 | ||
All AIME Problems and Solutions |