2015 AMC 8 Problems/Problem 12

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How many pairs of parallel edges, such as $\overline{AB}$ and $\overline{GH}$ or $\overline{EH}$ and $\overline{FG}$, does a cube have?


$\textbf{(A) }6 \quad\textbf{(B) }12 \quad\textbf{(C) } 18 \quad\textbf{(D) } 24 \quad \textbf{(E) } 36$ [asy] import three; currentprojection=orthographic(1/2,-1,1/2); /* three - currentprojection, orthographic */ draw((0,0,0)--(1,0,0)--(1,1,0)--(0,1,0)--cycle); draw((0,0,0)--(0,0,1)); draw((0,1,0)--(0,1,1)); draw((1,1,0)--(1,1,1)); draw((1,0,0)--(1,0,1));  draw((0,0,1)--(1,0,1)--(1,1,1)--(0,1,1)--cycle); label("$D$",(0,0,0),S); label("$A$",(0,0,1),N); label("$H$",(0,1,0),S); label("$E$",(0,1,1),N); label("$C$",(1,0,0),S); label("$B$",(1,0,1),N); label("$G$",(1,1,0),S); label("$F$",(1,1,1),N); [/asy] The area of $\triangle ABC$ is equal to half the product of its base and height. By the Pythagorean Theorem, we find its height is $\sqrt{1^2+2^2}=\sqrt{5}$, and its base is $\sqrt{2^2+4^2}=\sqrt{20}$. We multiply these and divide by 2 to find the of the triangle is $\frac{\sqrt{5 \cdot 20}}2=\frac{\sqrt{100}}2=\frac{10}2=5$. Since the grid has an area of $30$, the fraction of the grid covered by the triangle is $\frac 5{30}=\boxed{\textbf{(A) }\frac{1}{6}}$.

See Also

2015 AMC 8 (ProblemsAnswer KeyResources)
Preceded by
Problem 11
Followed by
Problem 13
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All AJHSME/AMC 8 Problems and Solutions

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