# Difference between revisions of "2009 AMC 10A Problems/Problem 10"

## Problem

Triangle $ABC$ has a right angle at $B$. Point $D$ is the foot of the altitude from $B$, $AD=3$, and $DC=4$. What is the area of $\triangle ABC$?

$[asy] unitsize(5mm); defaultpen(linewidth(.8pt)+fontsize(8pt)); dotfactor=4; pair B=(0,0), C=(sqrt(28),0), A=(0,sqrt(21)); pair D=foot(B,A,C); pair[] ps={B,C,A,D}; draw(A--B--C--cycle); draw(B--D); draw(rightanglemark(B,D,C)); dot(ps); label("A",A,NW); label("B",B,SW); label("C",C,SE); label("D",D,NE); label("3",midpoint(A--D),NE); label("4",midpoint(D--C),NE); [/asy]$

$\mathrm{(A)}\ 4\sqrt3 \qquad \mathrm{(B)}\ 7\sqrt3 \qquad \mathrm{(C)}\ 21 \qquad \mathrm{(D)}\ 14\sqrt3 \qquad \mathrm{(E)}\ 42$

## Solution 1

It is a well-known fact that in any right triangle $ABC$ with the right angle at $B$ and $D$ the foot of the altitude from $B$ onto $AC$ we have $BD^2 = AD\cdot CD$. (See below for a proof.) Then $BD = \sqrt{ 3\cdot 4 } = 2\sqrt 3$, and the area of the triangle $ABC$ is $\frac{AC\cdot BD}2 = 7\sqrt3\Rightarrow\boxed{\text{(B)}}$.

Proof: Consider the Pythagorean theorem for each of the triangles $ABC$, $ABD$, and $CBD$. We get:

1. $AB^2 + BC^2 = AC^2 = (AD+DC)^2 = AD^2 + DC^2 + 2 \cdot AD \cdot DC$.
2. $AB^2 = AD^2 + BD^2$
3. $BC^2 = BD^2 + CD^2$

Substituting equations 2 and 3 into the left hand side of equation 1, we get $BD^2 = AD \cdot DC$.

Alternatively, note that $\triangle ABD \sim \triangle BCD \Longrightarrow \frac{AD}{BD} = \frac{BD}{CD}$.

## Solution 2

For those looking for a dumber solution, we can use Pythagoras and manipulation of area formulas as well to solve the problem.

Assume the length of $BD$ is equal to $h$. Then, by Pythagoras, we have,

$$AB^2 = h^2 + 9 \Rightarrow AB = \sqrt{h^2 + 9}$$ $$BC^2 = h^2 + 16 \Rightarrow BC = \sqrt{h^2 + 16}$$

Then, by area formulas, we know that

$$\frac{1}{2}\sqrt{(h^2+9)(h^2+16)} = \frac{1}{2}(7)(h)$$

Squaring and solving the subsequent equation yields our solution that $h^2 = 12 \Rightarrow h = 2\sqrt{3}.$ Since the area of the triangle is half of this quantity multiplied by the base, we have $$\text{area} = \frac{1}{2}(7)(2\sqrt{3})\Rightarrow \boxed{7\sqrt{3}}$$

## Solution 3 (Power of a point)

Draw the circumcircle $\omega$ of the $\Delta ABC$. Because $\Delta ABC$ is a right angle triangle, AC is the diameter of the circumcircle. By applying Power of a Point Theorem, we can have $BD=DE$ and $AD\cdot CD=BD^2$ $\Rightarrow BD=\sqrt{3\times 4}=2\sqrt{3}$. Then we have $S_{[ABC]}=\frac{1}{2}(7)(2\sqrt{3})=\boxed{7\sqrt{3}}$

$[asy] unitsize(6mm); defaultpen(linewidth(.8pt)+fontsize(8pt)); dotfactor=4; pair B=(0,0), C=(sqrt(28),0), A=(0,sqrt(21)), E=(6*sqrt(28)/7,8*sqrt(21)/7); pair D=foot(B,A,C); pair[] ps={B,C,A,D}; filldraw(Circle((sqrt(28)/2,sqrt(21)/2),sqrt(49)/2),white,black); draw(A--B--C--cycle); draw(B--D); draw(E--D); draw(rightanglemark(B,D,C)); dot(ps); label("A",A,NW); label("B",B,SW); label("E",E,NE); label("C",C,SE); label("D",D,NE); label("3",midpoint(A--D),NE); label("4",midpoint(D--C),NE); [/asy]$ ~Bran_Qin

~ pi_is_3.14