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2022 AIME I Problems/Problem 8

Revision as of 21:17, 17 February 2022 by Ihatemath123 (talk | contribs)

Problem

Equilateral triangle $\triangle ABC$ is inscribed in circle $\omega$ with radius $18.$ Circle $\omega_A$ is tangent to sides $\overline{AB}$ and $\overline{AC}$ and is internally tangent to $\omega$. Circles $\omega_B$ and $\omega_C$ are defined analogously. Circles $\omega_A$, $\omega_B$, and $\omega_C$ meet in six points$-$two points for each pair of circles. The three intersection points closest to the vertices of $\triangle ABC$ are the vertices of a large equilateral triangle in the interior of $\triangle ABC$, and the other three intersection points are the vertices of a smaller equilateral triangle in the interior of $\triangle ABC$. The side length of the smaller equilateral triangle can be written as $\sqrt{a}-\sqrt{b}$, where $a$ and $b$ are positive integers. Find $a+b$.

Diagram

[asy] unitsize(0.3cm); draw(circle((0,0),18)); pair A = (9 * sqrt(3), -9); pair B = (-9 * sqrt(3), -9); pair C = (0,18); draw(A--B--C--cycle); draw(circle((0,-6),12), gray); draw(circle((3*sqrt(3),3),12), gray); draw(circle((-3*sqrt(3),3),12), gray); pair X = (0, 3-sqrt(117)); pair Y = ( (sqrt(351)-sqrt(27))/2, (sqrt(117)-3)/2 ); pair Z = ( (sqrt(27) - sqrt(351))/2, (sqrt(117)-3)/2 ); dot(X); dot(Y); dot(Z); draw(X--Y--Z--cycle, dashed); [/asy]

Solution

Let bottom left point as the origin, the radius of each circle is $36/3=12$, note that three centers for circles are $(9\sqrt{3},3),(12\sqrt{3},12),(6\sqrt{3},12)$

It is not hard to find that one intersection point lies on $\frac{\sqrt{3}x}{3}$ since the intersection must lie on the angle bisector of the bigger triangle, plug it into equation $(x-9\sqrt{3})^2+(\frac{\sqrt{3}x}{3}-3)^2=12^2$, getting that $x=\frac{15\sqrt{3}+3\sqrt{39}}{2}$, the length is $2*(\frac{15\sqrt{3}+3\sqrt{39}-18\sqrt{3}}{2}=3\sqrt{39}-3\sqrt{3}$, leads to the answer $378$

~bluesoul

See Also

2022 AIME I (Problems • Answer Key • Resources)
Preceded by
Problem 7 		Followed by
Problem 9
1 • 2 • 3 • 4 • 5 • 6 • 7 • 8 • 9 • 10 • 11 • 12 • 13 • 14 • 15
All AIME Problems and Solutions

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