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2010 AMC 10A Problems/Problem 19

Problem

Equiangular hexagon $ABCDEF$ has side lengths $AB=CD=EF=1$ and $BC=DE=FA=r$. The area of $\triangle ACE$ is $70\%$ of the area of the hexagon. What is the sum of all possible values of $r$?

$\textbf{(A)}\ \frac{4\sqrt{3}}{3} \qquad \textbf{(B)} \frac{10}{3} \qquad \textbf{(C)}\ 4 \qquad \textbf{(D)}\ \frac{17}{4} \qquad \textbf{(E)}\ 6$

Solution

Solution 1

It is clear that $\triangle ACE$ is an equilateral triangle. From the Law of Cosines, we get that $AC^2 = r^2+1^2-2r\cos{\frac{2\pi}{3}} = r^2+r+1$. Therefore, the area of $\triangle ACE$ is $\frac{\sqrt{3}}{4}(r^2+r+1)$.

If we extend $BC$, $DE$ and $FA$ so that $FA$ and $BC$ meet at $X$, $BC$ and $DE$ meet at $Y$, and $DE$ and $FA$ meet at $Z$, we find that hexagon $ABCDEF$ is formed by taking equilateral triangle $XYZ$ of side length $r+2$ and removing three equilateral triangles, $ABX$, $CDY$ and $EFZ$, of side length $1$. The area of $ABCDEF$ is therefore

$\frac{\sqrt{3}}{4}(r+2)^2-\frac{3\sqrt{3}}{4} = \frac{\sqrt{3}}{4}(r^2+4r+1)$.


Based on the initial conditions,

\[\frac{\sqrt{3}}{4}(r^2+r+1) = \frac{7}{10}\left(\frac{\sqrt{3}}{4}\right)(r^2+4r+1)\]

Simplifying this gives us $r^2-6r+1 = 0$. By Vieta's Formulas we know that the sum of the possible value of $r$ is $\boxed{\textbf{(E)}\ 6}$.

Solution 2

As above, we find that the area of $\triangle ACE$ is $\frac{\sqrt3}4(r^2+r+1)$.

We also find by the sine triangle area formula that $ABC=CDE=EFA=\frac12\cdot1\cdot r\cdot\frac{\sqrt3}2=\frac{r\sqrt3}4$, and thus 

\[\frac{\frac{\sqrt3}4(r^2+r+1)}{\frac{\sqrt3}4(r^2+r+1)+3\left(\frac{r\sqrt3}4}\right)}=\frac{r^2+r+1}{r^2+4r+1}=\frac7{10}\] (Error compiling LaTeX. Unknown error_msg)

This simplifies to $r^2-6r+1=0\Rightarrow \boxed{\textbf{(E)}\ 6}$.

See also

2010 AMC 10A (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 10 Problems and Solutions

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