Difference between revisions of "2000 AMC 12 Problems/Problem 21"

m (Solution)
(Solution 2)
Line 53: Line 53:
  
 
-Canadian
 
-Canadian
 +
Answer to the question asked above by Canadian:
 +
Many problems overlap in the AMC 10 and AMC 12 for the same year. Yes, it is meant to be like this.
  
 
== See also ==
 
== See also ==

Revision as of 14:06, 27 July 2020

The following problem is from both the 2000 AMC 12 #21 and 2000 AMC 10 #19, so both problems redirect to this page.

Problem

Through a point on the hypotenuse of a right triangle, lines are drawn parallel to the legs of the triangle so that the triangle is divided into a square and two smaller right triangles. The area of one of the two small right triangles is $m$ times the area of the square. The ratio of the area of the other small right triangle to the area of the square is

$\text {(A)}\ \frac{1}{2m+1} \qquad \text {(B)}\ m \qquad \text {(C)}\ 1-m \qquad \text {(D)}\ \frac{1}{4m} \qquad \text {(E)}\ \frac{1}{8m^2}$

Solution

Solution 1

[asy] unitsize(36); draw((0,0)--(6,0)--(0,3)--cycle); draw((0,0)--(2,0)--(2,2)--(0,2)--cycle); label("$1$",(1,2),S); label("$1$",(2,1),W); label("$2m$",(4,0),S); label("$x$",(0,2.5),W); [/asy]

WLOG, let a side of the square be $1$. Simple angle chasing shows that the two right triangles are similar. Thus the ratio of the sides of the triangles are the same. Since $A = \frac{1}{2}bh = \frac{h}{2}$, the height of the triangle with area $m$ is $2m$. Therefore $\frac{2m}{1} = \frac{1}{x}$ where $x$ is the base of the other triangle. $x = \frac{1}{2m}$, and the area of that triangle is $\frac{1}{2} \cdot 1 \cdot \frac{1}{2m} = \frac{1}{4m}\ \text{(D)}$.


Solution 2

[asy] unitsize(36); draw((0,0)--(6,0)--(0,3)--cycle); draw((0,0)--(2,0)--(2,2)--(0,2)--cycle); label("$b$",(2.5,0),S); label("$a$",(0,1.5),W); label("$c$",(2.5,1),W); label("$A$",(0.5,2.5),W); label("$B$",(3.5,0.75),W); label("$C$",(1,1),W); [/asy]

From the diagram from the previous solution, we have $a$, $b$ as the legs and $c$ as the side length of the square. WLOG, let the area of triangle $A$ be $m$ times the area of square $C$.

Since triangle $A$ is similar to the large triangle, it has $h_A = a(\frac{c}{b}) = \frac{ac}{b}$, $b_A = c$ and \[[A] = \frac{bh}{2} = \frac{ac^2}{2b} = m[C] = mc^2\] Thus $\frac{a}{2b} = m$

Now since triangle $B$ is similar to the large triangle, it has $h_B = c$, $b_B = b\frac{c}{a} = \frac{bc}{a}$ and \[[B] = \frac{bh}{2} = \frac{bc^2}{2a} = nc^2 = n[C]\]

Thus $n = \frac{b}{2a} = \frac{1}{4(\frac{a}{2b})} = \frac{1}{4m}$. $\text{(D)}$.

~ Nafer


[I think there is a mistake. It says it is a problem 19 for AMC 10 and problem 21 for AMC 12. They are both the same year, 2000. Is this a mistake, or meant to be like this?]

-Canadian Answer to the question asked above by Canadian: Many problems overlap in the AMC 10 and AMC 12 for the same year. Yes, it is meant to be like this.

See also

2000 AMC 12 (ProblemsAnswer KeyResources)
Preceded by
Problem 20
Followed by
Problem 22
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
2000 AMC 10 (ProblemsAnswer KeyResources)
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

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