2013 AMC 12B Problems/Problem 19
- The following problem is from both the 2013 AMC 12B #19 and 2013 AMC 10B #23, so both problems redirect to this page.
Problem
In triangle , , , and . Distinct points , , and lie on segments , , and , respectively, such that , , and . The length of segment can be written as , where and are relatively prime positive integers. What is ?
Solution 1
Since , quadrilateral is cyclic. It follows that . In addition, triangles and are similar, and triangles and are similar. We can easily find , , and using pythagorean triples. So, the ratio of the hypotenuse to the longer leg of all three similar triangles is , and the ratio of the hypotenuse to the shorter leg is . It follows that . By Ptolemy's Theorem, we have where . Dividing by we get so our answer is .
Solution 2
Using the similar triangles in triangle gives and . Quadrilateral is cyclic, implying that = 180°. Therefore, , and triangles and are similar. Solving the resulting proportion gives . Therefore, and our answer is .
Solution 3
If we draw a diagram as given, but then add point on such that in order to use the Pythagorean theorem, we end up with similar triangles and . Thus, and , where is the length of . Using the Pythagorean theorem, we now get and can be found out noting that is just through base times height (since , similar triangles gives ), and that is just . From there, Now, , and squaring and adding both sides and subtracting a 169 from both sides gives , so . Thus, the answer is .
See also
2013 AMC 12B (Problems • Answer Key • Resources) | |
Preceded by Problem 18 |
Followed by Problem 20 |
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 |
2013 AMC 10B (Problems • Answer Key • Resources) | ||
Preceded by Problem 22 |
Followed by Problem 24 | |
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 10 Problems and Solutions |
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