2017 AMC 10A Problems/Problem 17

Problem

Distinct points $P$ , $Q$ , $R$ , $S$ lie on the circle $x^{2}+y^{2}=25$ and have integer coordinates. The distances $PQ$ and $RS$ are irrational numbers. What is the greatest possible value of the ratio $\frac{PQ}{RS}$ ?

$\mathrm{\textbf{(A)}}\ 3\qquad\mathrm{\textbf{(B)}}\ 5\qquad\mathrm{\textbf{(C)}}\ 3\sqrt{5}\qquad\mathrm{\textbf{(D)}}\ 7\qquad\mathrm{\textbf{(E)}}\ 5\sqrt{2}$

Solution

Because $P$ , $Q$ , $R$ , and $S$ are integers there are only a few coordinates that actually satisfy the equation. The coordinates are $(\pm 3,\pm 4), (\pm 4, \pm 3), (0,\pm 5),$ and $(\pm 5,0).$ We want to maximize $PQ$ and minimize $RS.$ They also have to be the square root of something, because they are both irrational. The greatest value of $PQ$ happens when it $P$ and $Q$ are almost directly across from each other and are in different quadrants. For example, the endpoints of the segment could be $(-4,3)$ and $(3,-4)$ because the two points are almost across from each other. The least value of $RS$ is when the two endpoints are in the same quadrant and are very close to each other. This can occur when, for example, $R$ is $(3,4)$ and $S$ is $(4,3).$ They are in the same quadrant and no other point on the circle with integer coordinates is closer to the point $(3,4)$ than $(4,3).$ Using the distance formula, we get that $PQ$ is $\sqrt{98}$ and that $RS$ is $\sqrt{2}.$ $\frac{\sqrt{98}}{\sqrt{2}}=\sqrt{49}=\boxed{\mathrm{\textbf{(D)}}\ 7}$

2017 AMC 10A (Problems • Answer Key • Resources)
Preceded by Problem 16	Followed by Problem 18
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2017 AMC 10A Problems/Problem 17

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