2008 AIME I Problems/Problem 2

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Problem

Square $AIME$ has sides of length $10$ units. Isosceles triangle $GEM$ has base $EM$, and the area common to triangle $GEM$ and square $AIME$ is $80$ square units. Find the length of the altitude to $EM$ in $\triangle GEM$.

Solution

[asy] pair E=(0,0), M=(10,0), I=(10,10), A=(0,10); draw(A--I--M--E--cycle); pair G=(5,25); draw(G--E--M--cycle); label("\(G\)",G,N); label("\(A\)",A,NW); label("\(I\)",I,NE); label("\(M\)",M,NE); label("\(E\)",E,NW); label("\(10\)",(M+E)/2,S); [/asy]

Let $GE$ meet $AI$ at $X$ and let $GM$ meet $AI$ at $Y$. Clearly, $XY=6$ since the area of trapezoid $XYME$ is $80$. Also, $\triangle GXY \sim \triangle GEM$.

Let the height of $GXY$ be $h$. By the similarity, $\dfrac{h}{6} = \dfrac{h + 10}{10}$, we get $h = 15$. Thus, the height of $GEM$ is $h + 10 = \boxed{025}$.

Note that if the altitude of the triangle is at most $10$, then the maximum area of the intersection of the triangle and the square is $5\cdot10=50$.

See also

2008 AIME I (ProblemsAnswer KeyResources)
Preceded by
Problem 1
Followed by
Problem 3
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15
All AIME Problems and Solutions