2006 AIME I Problems/Problem 1

Problem

In quadrilateral $ABCD$, $\angle B$ is a right angle, diagonal $\overline{AC}$ is perpendicular to $\overline{CD}$, $AB=18$, $BC=21$, and $CD=14$. Find the perimeter of $ABCD$.

Solution

From the problem statement, we construct the following diagram:

[asy] pointpen = black; pathpen = black + linewidth(0.65); pair C=(0,0), D=(0,-14),A=(-(961-196)^.5,0),B=IP(circle(C,21),circle(A,18)); D(MP("A",A,W)--MP("B",B,N)--MP("C",C,E)--MP("D",D,E)--A--C); D(rightanglemark(A,C,D,40)); D(rightanglemark(A,B,C,40)); [/asy]

Using the Pythagorean Theorem:

$(AD)^2 = (AC)^2 + (CD)^2$
$(AC)^2 = (AB)^2 + (BC)^2$

Substituting $(AB)^2 + (BC)^2$ for $(AC)^2$:

$(AD)^2 = (AB)^2 + (BC)^2 + (CD)^2$

Plugging in the given information:

$(AD)^2 = (18)^2 + (21)^2 + (14)^2$
$(AD)^2 = 961$
$(AD)= 31$

So the perimeter is $18+21+14+31=84$, and the answer is $\boxed{84}$.

See also

2006 AIME I (ProblemsAnswer KeyResources)
Preceded by
First Question
Followed by
Problem 2
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15
All AIME Problems and Solutions

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