1996 AHSME Problems/Problem 30
Problem
A hexagon inscribed in a circle has three consecutive sides each of length 3 and three consecutive sides each of length 5. The chord of the circle that divides the hexagon into two trapezoids, one with three sides each of length 3 and the other with three sides each of length 5, has length equal to , where
and
are relatively prime positive integers. Find
.
309
349
369
389
409
Solution
All angle measures are in degrees.
Let the first trapezoid be , where
. Then the second trapezoid is
, where
. We look for
.
Since is an isosceles trapezoid, we know that
and, since
, if we drew
, we would see
. Anyway,
(I couldn't find a better symbol;
means arc AB). Using similar reasoning,
.
Let and
. Since
(add up the angles),
and thus
. Therefore,
.
as well.
Now I focus on triangle . By the Law of Cosines,
, so
. Seeing
and
, we can now use the Law of Sines to get:
Now I focus on triangle .
and
, and we are given that
, so
We know
, but we need to find
. Using various identities, we see
Returning to finding
, we remember
Plugging in and solving, we see
;
;
.