Difference between revisions of "1983 AIME Problems/Problem 15"
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The adjoining figure shows two intersecting [[chord]]s in a [[circle]], with <math>B</math> on minor arc <math>AD</math>. Suppose that the radius of the circle is <math>5</math>, that <math>BC=6</math>, and that <math>AD</math> is [[bisect]]ed by <math>BC</math>. Suppose further that <math>AD</math> is the only chord starting at <math>A</math> which is bisected by <math>BC</math>. It follows that the [[sine]] of the minor arc <math>AB</math> is a rational number. If this fraction is expressed as a fraction <math>\frac{m}{n}</math> in lowest terms, what is the product <math>mn</math>? | The adjoining figure shows two intersecting [[chord]]s in a [[circle]], with <math>B</math> on minor arc <math>AD</math>. Suppose that the radius of the circle is <math>5</math>, that <math>BC=6</math>, and that <math>AD</math> is [[bisect]]ed by <math>BC</math>. Suppose further that <math>AD</math> is the only chord starting at <math>A</math> which is bisected by <math>BC</math>. It follows that the [[sine]] of the minor arc <math>AB</math> is a rational number. If this fraction is expressed as a fraction <math>\frac{m}{n}</math> in lowest terms, what is the product <math>mn</math>? | ||
| − | [[Image:1983_AIME-15.png]] | + | [[Image:1983_AIME-15.png|200px]] |
== Solution == | == Solution == | ||
Revision as of 00:41, 17 May 2015
Problem
The adjoining figure shows two intersecting chords in a circle, with
on minor arc
. Suppose that the radius of the circle is
, that
, and that
is bisected by
. Suppose further that
is the only chord starting at
which is bisected by
. It follows that the sine of the minor arc
is a rational number. If this fraction is expressed as a fraction
in lowest terms, what is the product
?
Solution
Let
be any fixed point on circle
and let
be a chord of circle
. The locus of midpoints
of the chord
is a circle
, with diameter
. Generally, the circle
can intersect the chord
at two points, one point, or they may not have a point of intersection. By the problem condition, however, the circle
is tangent to BC at point N.
Let M be the midpoint of the chord
. From right triangle
,
. Thus,
.
Notice that the distance
equals
(Where
is the radius of circle P). Evaluating this,
. From
, we see that
Next, notice that
. We can therefore apply the tangent subtraction formula to obtain ,
. It follows that
, resulting in an answer of
.
See Also
| 1983 AIME (Problems • Answer Key • Resources) | ||
| Preceded by Problem 14 |
Followed by Last question | |
| 1 • 2 • 3 • 4 • 5 • 6 • 7 • 8 • 9 • 10 • 11 • 12 • 13 • 14 • 15 | ||
| All AIME Problems and Solutions | ||