1988 AHSME Problems/Problem 9

Problem

$[asy] defaultpen(linewidth(0.7)+fontsize(10)); pair A=(0,0), B=(16,0), C=(16,16), D=(0,16), E=(32,0), F=(48,0), G=(48,16), H=(32,16), I=(0,8), J=(10,8), K=(10,16), L=(32,6), M=(40,6), N=(40,16); draw(A--B--C--D--A^^E--F--G--H--E^^I--J--K^^L--M--N); label("S", (18,8)); label("S", (50,8)); label("Figure 1", (A+B)/2, S); label("Figure 2", (E+F)/2, S); label("10'", (I+J)/2, S); label("8'", (12,12)); label("8'", (L+M)/2, S); label("10'", (42,11)); label("table", (5,12)); label("table", (36,11)); [/asy]$

An $8'\times 10'$ table sits in the corner of a square room, as in Figure $1$ below. The owners desire to move the table to the position shown in Figure $2$ . The side of the room is $S$ feet. What is the smallest integer value of $S$ for which the table can be moved as desired without tilting it or taking it apart?

$\textbf{(A)}\ 11\qquad \textbf{(B)}\ 12\qquad \textbf{(C)}\ 13\qquad \textbf{(D)}\ 14\qquad \textbf{(E)}\ 15$

Solution

We begin by thinking about the motion of the table. As it moves, the table will have it's maximum height and width when the rectangle's sides form $45$ degree angles relative to the sides of the square. Therefore, by the Pythagorean Theorem, we have that $s$

1988 AHSME (Problems • Answer Key • Resources)
Preceded by Problem 8	Followed by Problem 10
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 • 26 • 27 • 28 • 29 • 30
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The problems on this page are copyrighted by the Mathematical Association of America's American Mathematics Competitions.

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1988 AHSME Problems/Problem 9

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