2003 AIME II Problems/Problem 7

Problem

Find the area of rhombus $ABCD$ given that the radii of the circles circumscribed around triangles $ABD$ and $ACD$ are $12.5$ and $25$, respectively.

Solution

The diagonals of the rhombus perpendicularly bisect each other. Call half of diagonal BD $a$ and half of diagonal AC $b$. The length of the four sides of the rhombus is $\sqrt{a^2+b^2}$.

The area of any triangle can be expressed as $\frac{a\cdot b\cdot c}{4R}$, where $a$, $b$, and $c$ are the sides and $R$ is the circumradius. Thus, the area of $\triangle ABD$ is $ab=2a(a^2+b^2)/(4\cdot12.5)$. Also, the area of $\triangle ABC$ is $ab=2b(a^2+b^2)/(4\cdot25)$. Setting these two expressions equal to each other and simplifying gives $b=2a$. Substitution yields $a=10$ and $b=20$, so the area of the rhombus is $20\cdot40/2=\boxed{400}$.

See also

2003 AIME II (ProblemsAnswer KeyResources)
Preceded by
Problem 6
Followed by
Problem 8
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All AIME Problems and Solutions

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