2003 AMC 8 Problems/Problem 24

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Problem

A ship travels from point $A$ to point $B$ along a semicircular path, centered at Island $X$. Then it travels along a straight path from $B$ to $C$. Which of these graphs best shows the ship's distance from Island $X$ as it moves along its course?

[asy]size(150); pair X=origin, A=(-5,0), B=(5,0), C=(0,5); draw(Arc(X, 5, 180, 360)^^B--C); dot(X); label("$X$", X, NE); label("$C$", C, N); label("$B$", B, E); label("$A$", A, W); [/asy]

2003amc8prob24ans.png

Solution

The distance from Island $\text{X}$ to any point on the semicircle will always be constant. On the graph, this will represent a straight line. The distance between Island $\text{X}$ and line $\text{BC}$ will not be constant though. We can easily prove that the distance between $\text{X}$ and line $\text{BC}$ will represent a curve. As the ship travels from $B$ to $C$, the distance between the ship and Island $X$ will first decrease until it reaches the point $Y$ so that $\overline{XY}$ is perpendicular to $\overline{BC}$, and then increase afterwards. Hence the answer choice that fits them all is $\boxed{\text{(B)}}$.

See Also

2003 AMC 8 (ProblemsAnswer KeyResources)
Preceded by
Problem 23
Followed by
Problem 25
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 AJHSME/AMC 8 Problems and Solutions

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