2014 AMC 10A Problems/Problem 18

Revision as of 17:42, 19 February 2014 by BeastX-Men (talk | contribs) (Solution)

Problem

A square in the coordinate plane has vertices whose $y$-coordinates are $0$, $1$, $4$, and $5$. What is the area of the square?

$\textbf{(A)}\ 16\qquad\textbf{(B)}\ 17\qquad\textbf{(C)}\ 25\qquad\textbf{(D)}\ 26\qquad\textbf{(E)}\ 27$

Solution

Let the points be $A=(x_1,0)$, $B=(x_2,1)$, $C=(x_3,5)$, and $D=(x_4,4)$

Note that the difference in $y$ value of $B$ and $C$ is $4$. By rotational symmetry of the square, the difference in $x$ value of $A$ and $B$ is also $4$. Note that the difference in $y$ value of $A$ and $B$ is $1$. We now know that $AB$, the side length of the square, is equal to $\sqrt{1^2+4^2}=\sqrt{17}$, so the area is $\textbf{(B) }17$.

See Also

2014 AMC 10A (ProblemsAnswer KeyResources)
Preceded by
Problem 17
Followed by
Problem 19
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All AMC 10 Problems and Solutions

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