Difference between revisions of "2018 AMC 12B Problems/Problem 12"

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[[Category:Introductory Geometry Problems]]

Revision as of 16:29, 18 June 2018

Problem

Side $\overline{AB}$ of $\triangle ABC$ has length $10$. The bisector of angle $A$ meets $\overline{BC}$ at $D$, and $CD = 3$. The set of all possible values of $AC$ is an open interval $(m,n)$. What is $m+n$?

\[\textbf{(A) }16 \qquad \textbf{(B) }17 \qquad \textbf{(C) }18 \qquad \textbf{(D) }19 \qquad \textbf{(E) }20 \qquad\]

Solution

Let $BD = x$. Then by Angle Bisector Theorem, we have $AC = 30/x$. Now, by the triangle inequality, we have three inequalities.

  • $10+x+3 > AC$, so $13+x > 30/x$. Solve this to find that $x > 2$, so $AC < 15$.
  • $AC+10 > x+3$, so $30/x > x-7$. Solve this to find that $x < 10$, so $AC > 3$.
  • The third inequality can be disregarded, because $30/x > 7-x$ has no real roots.

Then our interval is simply $(3,15)$ to get $18$ $\boxed{C}$.

See Also

2018 AMC 12B (ProblemsAnswer KeyResources)
Preceded by
Problem 11
Followed by
Problem 13
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 AMC 12 Problems and Solutions

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