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2005 AMC 12A Problems/Problem 15

Revision as of 21:39, 13 June 2018 by Coolgeo (talk | contribs) (→‎Solution 4)

Problem

Let $\overline{AB}$ be a diameter of a circle and $C$ be a point on $\overline{AB}$ with $2 \cdot AC = BC$. Let $D$ and $E$ be points on the circle such that $\overline{DC} \perp \overline{AB}$ and $\overline{DE}$ is a second diameter. What is the ratio of the area of $\triangle DCE$ to the area of $\triangle ABD$?

[asy] unitsize(2.5cm); defaultpen(fontsize(10pt)+linewidth(.8pt)); dotfactor=3; pair O=(0,0), C=(-1/3.0), B=(1,0), A=(-1,0); pair D=dir(aCos(C.x)), E=(-D.x,-D.y); draw(A--B--D--cycle); draw(D--E--C); draw(unitcircle,white); drawline(D,C); dot(O); clip(unitcircle); draw(unitcircle); label("$E$",E,SSE); label("$B$",B,E); label("$A$",A,W); label("$D$",D,NNW); label("$C$",C,SW); draw(rightanglemark(D,C,B,2));[/asy]

$(\text {A}) \ \frac {1}{6} \qquad (\text {B}) \ \frac {1}{4} \qquad (\text {C})\ \frac {1}{3} \qquad (\text {D}) \ \frac {1}{2} \qquad (\text {E})\ \frac {2}{3}$

Solution

Solution 1

Notice that the bases of both triangles are diameters of the circle. Hence the ratio of the areas is just the ratio of the heights of the triangles, or $\frac{CD}{CF}$ ($F$ is the foot of the perpendicular from $C$ to $DE$).

Call the radius $r$. Then $AC = \frac 13(2r) = \frac 23r$, $CO = \frac 13r$. Using the Pythagorean Theorem in $\triangle OCD$, we get $\frac{1}{3}r^2 + CD^2 = r^2 \Longrightarrow CD = \frac{2\sqrt{2}}3r$.

Now we have to find $CF$. Notice $\triangle OCD \sim \triangle OFC$, so we can write the proportion:

$\frac{OF}{OC} = \frac{OC}{OD}$
$\frac{OF}{\frac{1}{3}r} = \frac{\frac{1}{3}r}{r}$
$OF = \frac 19r$

By the Pythagorean Theorem in $\triangle OFC$, we have $\left(\frac{1}{9}r\right)^2 + CF^2 = \left(\frac{1}{3}r\right)^2 \Longrightarrow CF = \sqrt{\frac{8}{81}r^2} = \frac{2\sqrt{2}}{9}r$.

Our answer is $\frac{CD}{CF} = \frac{\frac{2\sqrt{2}}{3}r}{\frac{2\sqrt{2}}{9}r} = \frac 13 \Longrightarrow \mathrm{(C)}$.

Solution 2

Let the center of the circle be $O$.

Note that $2 \cdot AC = BC \Rightarrow 3 \cdot AC = AB$.

$O$ is midpoint of $AB \Rightarrow \frac{3}{2}AC = AO \Rightarrow CO = \frac{1}{3}AO \Rightarrow CO = \frac{1}{6} AB$.

$O$ is midpoint of $DE \Rightarrow$ Area of $\triangle DCE = 2 \cdot$ Area of $\triangle DCO = 2 \cdot (\frac{1}{6} \cdot$ Area of $\triangle ABD) = \frac{1}{3} \cdot$ Area of $\triangle ABD \Longrightarrow \mathrm{(C)}$.

Solution 3

Let $r$ be the radius of the circle. Note that $AC+BC = 2r$ so $AC = \frac{2}{3}r$.

By Power of a Point Theorem, $CD^2= AC \cdot BC = 2\cdot AC^2$, and thus $CD = \sqrt{2} \cdot AC = \frac{2\sqrt{2}}{3}r$

Then the area of $\triangle ABD$ is $\frac{1}{2} AB \cdot CD = \frac{2\sqrt{2}}{3}r^2$. Similarly, the area of $\triangle DCE$ is $\frac{1}{2}(r-AC) \cdot 2 \cdot CD = \frac{2\sqrt{2}}{9}r^2$, so the desired ratio is $\frac{\frac{2\sqrt{2}}{9}r^2}{\frac{2\sqrt{2}}{3}r^2} = \frac{1}{3} \Longrightarrow \mathrm{(C)}$

Solution 4

[asy] unitsize(2.5cm); defaultpen(fontsize(10pt)+linewidth(.8pt)); dotfactor=3; pair O=(0,0), C=(-1/3.0), B=(1,0), A=(-1,0); pair D=dir(aCos(C.x)), E=(-D.x,-D.y); draw(A--B--D--cycle); draw(D--E--C); draw(unitcircle,white); drawline(D,C); dot(O); clip(unitcircle); draw(unitcircle); label("$E$",E,SSE); label("$B$",B,NE); label("$A$",A,W); label("$D$",D,NNW); label("$C$",C,SW); draw(E--(E.x,0),dashed); label("H",(E.x,0),SE); label("O",(0,0),NE); label("1",(C--O),N); label("2",(A--C),N); label("3",(O--B),N); label("3",(O--D),NE); label("3",(O--E),NE); draw(rightanglemark(E,(E.x,0),A,2)); draw(rightanglemark(D,C,B,2));[/asy]

Let the center of the circle be $O$. Without loss of generality, let the radius of the circle be equal to $3$. Thus, $AO=3$ and $OB=3$. As a consequence of $2(AC)=BC$, $AC=2$ and $CO=1$. Also, we know that $DO$ and $OE$ are both equal to $3$ due to the fact that they are both radii. Thus from the Pythagorean Theorem, we have

See also

2005 AMC 12A (Problems • Answer Key • Resources)
Preceded by
Problem 14 		Followed by
Problem 16
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

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