2022 AMC 12A Problems/Problem 3

Revision as of 19:55, 19 November 2022 by Ghfhgvghj10 (talk | contribs) (Solution 1 (List))

Solution 1 (List)

Let's label some points.

[asy] fill((3,2.5)--(3,4.5)--(5.3,4.5)--(5.3,2.5)--cycle,mediumgray); draw((0,0)--(7,0)--(7,7)--(0,7)--(0,0)); draw((3,0)--(3,4.5)); draw((0,4.5)--(5.3,4.5)); draw((5.3,7)--(5.3,2.5)); draw((7,2.5)--(3,2.5));  label("A",(0,0),S); label("B",(3,0),S); label("C",(7,0),S); label("D",(7.5,3),S); label("E",(7.5,7.8),S); label("F",(5.5,7.8),S); label("G",(-.5,7.8),S); label("H",(-.5,5),S); [/asy]


By finding the dimensions of the middle rectangle, we need to find the dimensions of the other 4 rectangles. By doing this, there is going to be a rule.

Rule: $AB + BC = CD + DE = EF + FG = GH + AH$

Let's make a list of all the dimensions of the rectangles from the diagram. We have to fill in the dimensions from up above, but still apply to the rule.

$AB\times AH$

$CD\times BC$

$EF\times DE$

$GH\times FG$

By applying the rule, we get $AB=2, BC=6, CD=5, DE=3, EF=2, FG=6, GH=1$, and $AH=7$.

By substitution, we get this list

$2\times 7$

$5\times 6$

$2\times 3$

$1\times 6$

This also tells us that the diagram may not be in scale, lol.

Notice how the only dimension not used in the list was $2\times 4$ and that corresponds with B so the answer is, $\textbf{(B) }B.$

~ghfhgvghj10 & Education, the study of everything.