2013 AMC 10A Problems/Problem 23

The following problem is from both the 2013 AMC 12A #19 and 2013 AMC 10A #23, so both problems redirect to this page.

Problem

In $\triangle ABC$ , $AB = 86$ , and $AC=97$ . A circle with center $A$ and radius $AB$ intersects $\overline{BC}$ at points $B$ and $X$ . Moreover $\overline{BX}$ and $\overline{CX}$ have integer lengths. What is $BC$ ?

$\textbf{(A)}\ 11\qquad\textbf{(B)}\ 28\qquad\textbf{(C)}\ 33\qquad\textbf{(D)}\ 61\qquad\textbf{(E)}\ 72$

Solution 1 (Power of a Point)

Let $BX = q$ , $CX = p$ , and $AC$ meets the circle at $Y$ and $Z$ , with $Y$ on $AC$ . Then $AZ = AY = 86$ . Using the Power of a Point (Secant-Secant Power Theorem), we get that $p(p+q) = 11(183) = 11 * 3 * 61$ . We know that $p+q>p$ , so $p$ is either 3,11, or 33. We also know that $p>11$ by the triangle inequality on $\triangle ACX$ . $p$ is 33. Thus, we get that $BC = p+q = \boxed{\textbf{(D) }61}$ .

Solution 2 (Stewart's Theorem)

Let $x$ represent $CX$ , and let $y$ represent $BX$ . Since the circle goes through $B$ and $X$ , $AB = AX = 86$ . Then by Stewart's Theorem,

$xy(x+y) + 86^2 (x+y) = 97^2 y + 86^2 x.$

$x^2 y + xy^2 + 86^2 x + 86^2 y = 97^2 y + 86^2 x$

$x^2 + xy + 86^2 = 97^2$

(Since $y$ cannot be equal to $0$ , dividing both sides of the equation by $y$ is allowed.)

$x(x+y) = (97+86)(97-86)$

$x(x+y) = 2013$

The prime factors of $2013$ are $3$ , $11$ , and $61$ . Obviously, $x < x+y$ . In addition, by the Triangle Inequality, $BC < AB + AC$ , so $x+y < 183$ . Therefore, $x$ must equal $33$ , and $x+y$ must equal $\boxed{\textbf{(D) }61}$ .

2013 AMC 10A (Problems • Answer Key • Resources)
Preceded by Problem 22	Followed by Problem 24
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All AMC 10 Problems and Solutions

2013 AMC 12A (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

The problems on this page are copyrighted by the Mathematical Association of America's American Mathematics Competitions.

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2013 AMC 10A Problems/Problem 23

Contents

Problem

Solution 1 (Power of a Point)

Solution 2 (Stewart's Theorem)

See Also