2010 AIME II Problems/Problem 9

Problem

Let $ABCDEF$ be a regular hexagon. Let $G$ , $H$ , $I$ , $J$ , $K$ , and $L$ be the midpoints of sides $AB$ , $BC$ , $CD$ , $DE$ , $EF$ , and $AF$ , respectively. The segments $\overline{AH}$ , $\overline{BI}$ , $\overline{CJ}$ , $\overline{DK}$ , $\overline{EL}$ , and $\overline{FG}$ bound a smaller regular hexagon. Let the ratio of the area of the smaller hexagon to the area of $ABCDEF$ be expressed as a fraction $\frac {m}{n}$ where $m$ and $n$ are relatively prime positive integers. Find $m + n$ .

Solution

$[asy] defaultpen(0.8pt+fontsize(12pt)); pair A,B,C,D,E,F; pair G,H,I,J,K,L; A=dir(0); B=dir(60); C=dir(120); D=dir(180); E=dir(240); F=dir(300); draw(A--B--C--D--E--F--cycle,blue); G=(A+B)/2; H=(B+C)/2; I=(C+D)/2; J=(D+E)/2; K=(E+F)/2; L=(F+A)/2; int i; for (i=0; i<6; i+=1) { draw(rotate(60*i)*(A--H),dotted); } pair M,N,O,P,Q,R; M=extension(A,H,B,I); N=extension(B,I,C,J); O=extension(C,J,D,K); P=extension(D,K,E,L); Q=extension(E,L,F,G); R=extension(F,G,A,H); draw(M--N--O--P--Q--R--cycle,red); label('$A$',A,(1,0)); label('$B$',B,NE); label('$C$',C,NW); label('$D$',D, W); label('$E$',E,SW); label('$F$',F,SE); label('$G$',G,NE); label('$H$',H, (0,1)); label('$I$',I,NW); label('$J$',J,SW); label('$K$',K, S); label('$L$',L,SE); label('$M$',M); label('$N$',N); label('$O$',(0,0),NE); dot((0,0)); [/asy]$

Let $M$ be the intersection of $\overline{AH}$ and $\overline{BI}$

and $N$ be the intersection of $\overline{BI}$ and $\overline{CJ}$ .

Let $O$ be the center.

Solution 1

Let $BC=2$ (without loss of generality).

Note that $\angle BMH$ is the vertical angle to an angle of regular hexagon, and so has degree $120^\circ$ .

Because $\triangle ABH$ and $\triangle BCI$ are rotational images of one another, we get that $\angle{MBH}=\angle{HAB}$ and hence $\triangle ABH \sim \triangle BMH \sim \triangle BCI$ .

Using a similar argument, $NI=MH$ , and

$MN=BI-NI-BM=BI-(BM+MH).$

Applying the Law of cosines on $\triangle BCI$ , $BI=\sqrt{2^2+1^2-2(2)(1)(\cos(120^\circ))}=\sqrt{7}$

$\begin{align*}\frac{BC+CI}{BI}&=\frac{3}{\sqrt{7}}=\frac{BM+MH}{BH} \\ BM+MH&=\frac{3BH}{\sqrt{7}}=\frac{3}{\sqrt{7}} \\ MN&=BI-(BM+MH)=\sqrt{7}-\frac{3}{\sqrt{7}}=\frac{4}{\sqrt{7}} \\ \frac{\text{Area of smaller hexagon}}{\text{Area of bigger hexagon}}&=\left(\frac{MN}{BC}\right)^2=\left(\frac{2}{\sqrt{7}}\right)^2=\frac{4}{7}\end{align*}$

Thus, the answer is 4 + 7 = $\boxed{011}$ .

Solution 2 (Coordinate Bash)

We can use coordinates. Let $O$ be at $(0,0)$ with $A$ at $(1,0)$ ,

then $B$ is at $(\cos(60^\circ),\sin(60^\circ))=\left(\frac{1}{2},\frac{\sqrt{3}}{2}\right)$ ,

$C$ is at $(\cos(120^\circ),\sin(120^\circ))=\left(-\frac{1}{2},\frac{\sqrt{3}}{2}\right)$ ,

$D$ is at $(\cos(180^\circ),\sin(180^\circ))=(-1,0)$ ,

$\begin{align*}&H=\frac{B+C}{2}=\left(0,\frac{\sqrt{3}}{2}\right) \\ &I=\frac{C+D}{2}=\left(-\frac{3}{4},\frac{\sqrt{3}}{4}\right)\end{align*}$

Line $AH$ has the slope of $-\frac{\sqrt{3}}{2}$ and the equation of $y=-\frac{\sqrt{3}}{2}(x-1)$

Line $BI$ has the slope of $\frac{\sqrt{3}}{5}$ and the equation $y-\frac{3}{2}=\frac{\sqrt{3}}{5}\left(x-\frac{1}{2}\right)$

Let's solve the system of equation to find $M$

$\begin{align*}-\frac{\sqrt{3}}{2}(x-1)-\frac{3}{2}&=\frac{\sqrt{3}}{5}\left(x-\frac{1}{2}\right) \\ -5\sqrt{3}x&=2\sqrt{3}x-\sqrt{3} \\ x&=\frac{1}{7} \\ y&=-\frac{\sqrt{3}}{2}(x-1)=\frac{3\sqrt{3}}{7}\end{align*}$

Finally,

$\begin{align*}&\sqrt{x^2+y^2}=OM=\frac{1}{7}\sqrt{1^2+(3\sqrt{3})^2}=\frac{1}{7}\sqrt{28}=\frac{2}{\sqrt{7}} \\ &\frac{\text{Area of smaller hexagon}}{\text{Area of bigger hexagon}}=\left(\frac{OM}{OA}\right)^2=\left(\frac{2}{\sqrt{7}}\right)^2=\frac{4}{7}\end{align*}$

Thus, the answer is $\boxed{011}$ .

Solution 3

Use the diagram. Now notice that all of the "overlapping triangles" are congruent. You can use the AA similarity to see that the small triangles are similar to the large triangles. Now you can proceed as in Solution 1.

2010 AIME II (Problems • Answer Key • Resources)
Preceded by Problem 8	Followed by Problem 10
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