2006 AIME I Problems/Problem 7

Revision as of 20:55, 11 March 2007 by K1c2h2o (talk | contribs) (Solution)

Problem

An angle is drawn on a set of equally spaced parallel lines as shown. The ratio of the area of shaded region $\mathcal{C}$ to the area of shaded region $\mathcal{B}$ is 11/5. Find the ratio of shaded region $\mathcal{D}$ to the area of shaded region $\mathcal{A}.$

2006AimeA7.PNG

Solution

Note that the apex of the angle is not on the parallel lines. Set up a coordinate proof.

Let the set of parallel lines be perpendicular to the x-axis, such that they cross it at $0, 1, 2 \ldots$. The base of region $\mathcal{A}$ is on the line $x = 1$. The bigger base of region $\mathcal{D}$ is on the line $x = 7$. x-axis will bisect the angle; the top side will be $y = \frac{1}{2}(x - s)$; the bottom side will be $y = -\frac{1}{2}(x - s)$.

Since the area of the triangle is equal to $\frac{1}{2}bh$,

$\frac{Region \mathcal{C}}{Region \mathcal{B}} = \frac{11}{5} = \frac{\frac 12(5-s)^2 - \frac 12(4-s)^2}{\frac 12(3-s)^2 - \frac12(2-s)^2}$

Solve this to find that $s = \frac{5}{6}$.

By a similar method, $\frac{Region \mathcal{D}}{Region \mathcal{A}} = \frac{\frac 12(7-s)^2 - \frac 12(6-s)^2}{\frac 12(1-s)^2}$ is $408$.

See also

2006 AIME I (ProblemsAnswer KeyResources)
Preceded by
Problem 6
Followed by
Problem 8
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15
All AIME Problems and Solutions