Difference between revisions of "2021 AIME I Problems/Problem 9"
MRENTHUSIASM (talk | contribs)  (→solution 8:  Reformatted and punctuated.)  | 
				MRENTHUSIASM (talk | contribs)  m (→Solution 8)  | 
				||
| Line 169: | Line 169: | ||
~[[User:emerald_block|emerald_block]]  | ~[[User:emerald_block|emerald_block]]  | ||
| − | ==Solution 8==  | + | ==Solution 8 (Similar Triangles and Pythagorean Theorem)==  | 
Make <math>AE</math> perpendicular to <math>BC</math>; <math>AG</math> perpendicular to <math>BD</math>; <math>AF</math> perpendicular <math>DC</math>.  | Make <math>AE</math> perpendicular to <math>BC</math>; <math>AG</math> perpendicular to <math>BD</math>; <math>AF</math> perpendicular <math>DC</math>.  | ||
Revision as of 11:06, 7 February 2022
Contents
- 1 Problem
 - 2 Diagram
 - 3 Solution 1 (Similar Triangles and Pythagorean Theorem)
 - 4 Solution 2 (Similar Triangles and Pythagorean Theorem)
 - 5 Solution 3 (Cyclic Quadrilaterals, Similar Triangles, Pythagorean Theorem)
 - 6 Solution 4 (Cyclic Quadrilaterals, Similar Triangles, Pythagorean Theorem)
 - 7 Solution 5 (Similar Triangles and Trigonometry)
 - 8 Solution 6 (Similar Triangles and Trigonometry)
 - 9 Solution 7 (Heron's Formula)
 - 10 Solution 8 (Similar Triangles and Pythagorean Theorem)
 - 11 Video Solution
 - 12 See Also
 
Problem
Let 
 be an isosceles trapezoid with 
 and 
 Suppose that the distances from 
 to the lines 
 and 
 are 
 and 
 respectively. Let 
 be the area of 
 Find 
Diagram
~MRENTHUSIASM
Solution 1 (Similar Triangles and Pythagorean Theorem)
Let 
 and 
 be the perpendiculars from 
 to 
 and 
 respectively. Next, let 
 be the intersection of 
 and 
We set 
 and 
 as shown below.
From here, we obtain 
 by segment subtraction, and 
 and 
 by the Pythagorean Theorem.
Since 
 and 
 are both complementary to 
 we have 
 from which 
 by AA. It follows that 
 so 
 or 
Since 
 by vertical angles, we have 
 by AA, with the ratio of similitude 
 It follows that 
Since 
 by angle chasing, we have 
 by AA, with the ratio of similitude 
 It follows that 
By the Pythagorean Theorem on right 
 we have 
 or 
Solving this system of equations (
 and 
), we get 
 and 
 so 
 and 
 Finally, the area of 
 is 
 from which 
~MRENTHUSIASM
Solution 2 (Similar Triangles and Pythagorean Theorem)
First, draw the diagram. Then, notice that since 
 is isosceles, 
, and the length of the altitude from 
 to 
 is also 
. Let the foot of this altitude be 
, and let the foot of the altitude from 
 to 
 be denoted as 
. Then, 
. So, 
. Now, notice that 
, where 
 denotes the area of triangle 
. Letting 
, this equality becomes 
. Also, from 
, we have 
. Now, by the Pythagorean theorem on triangles 
 and 
, we have 
 and 
. Notice that 
, so 
. Squaring both sides of the equation once, moving 
 and 
 to the right, dividing both sides by 
, and squaring the equation once more, we are left with 
. Dividing both sides by 
 (since we know 
 is positive), we are left with 
. Solving for 
 gives us 
. 
Now, let the foot of the perpendicular from 
 to 
 be 
. Then let 
. Let the foot of the perpendicular from 
 to 
 be 
. Then, 
 is also equal to 
. Notice that 
 is a rectangle, so 
. Now, we have 
. By the Pythagorean theorem applied to 
, we have 
. We know that 
, so we can plug this into this equation. Solving for 
, we get 
. 
Finally, to find 
, we use the formula for the area of a trapezoid: 
. The problem asks us for 
, which comes out to be 
.
~advanture
Solution 3 (Cyclic Quadrilaterals, Similar Triangles, Pythagorean Theorem)
Let the foot of the altitude from 
 to 
 be 
, to 
 be 
, and to 
 be 
.
Note that all isosceles trapezoids are cyclic quadrilaterals; thus, 
 is on the circumcircle of 
 and we have that 
 is the Simson Line from 
. As 
, we have that 
, with the last equality coming from cyclic quadrilateral 
. Thus, 
 and we have that 
 or that 
, which we can see gives us that 
. Further ratios using the same similar triangles gives that 
 and 
.
We also see that quadrilaterals 
 and 
 are both cyclic, with diameters of the circumcircles being 
 and 
 respectively. The intersection of the circumcircles are the points 
 and 
, and we know 
 and 
 are both line segments passing through an intersection of the two circles with one endpoint on each circle. By Fact 5, we know then that there exists a spiral similarity with center 
 taking 
 to 
. Because we know a lot about 
 but very little about 
 and we would like to know more, we wish to find the ratio of similitude between the two triangles.
To do this, we use the one number we have for 
: we know that the altitude from 
 to 
 has length 
. As the two triangles are similar, if we can find the height from 
 to 
, we can take the ratio of the two heights as the ratio of similitude. To do this, we once again note that 
. Using this, we can drop the altitude from 
 to 
 and let it intersect 
 at 
. Then, let 
 and thus 
. We then have by the Pythagorean Theorem on 
 and 
:
Then, 
. This gives us then from right triangle 
 that 
 and thus the ratio of 
 to 
 is 
. From this, we see then that 
 and 
 The Pythagorean Theorem on 
 then gives that 
Then, we have the height of trapezoid 
 is 
, the top base is 
, and the bottom base is 
. From the equation of a trapezoid, 
, so the answer is 
.
~lvmath
Solution 4 (Cyclic Quadrilaterals, Similar Triangles, Pythagorean Theorem)
Let 
 and 
 be the feet of the altitudes from 
 to 
 and 
, respectively.
Claim: We have 
 pairs of similar right triangles: 
 and 
.
Proof: Note that 
 is cyclic. We need one more angle, and we get this from this cyclic quadrilateral: 
Let 
. We obtain from the similarities 
 and 
.
By Ptolemy, 
, so 
.
We obtain 
, so 
.
Applying the Pythagorean theorem on 
, we get 
.
Thus, 
, and 
, yielding 
.
Solution 5 (Similar Triangles and Trigonometry)
Let 
. Draw diagonal 
 and let 
 be the foot of the perpendicular from 
 to 
, 
 be the foot of the perpendicular from 
 to line 
, and 
 be the foot of the perpendicular from 
 to 
.
Note that 
, and we get that 
. Therefore, 
. It then follows that 
. Using similar triangles, we can then find that 
. Using the Law of Cosines on 
, We can find that the 
. Since 
, and each is supplementary to 
, we know that the 
. It then follows that 
. Then it can be found that the area 
 is 
. Multiplying this by 
, the answer is 
.
~happykeeper
Solution 6 (Similar Triangles and Trigonometry)
Draw the distances in terms of 
, as shown in the diagram. By similar triangles, 
. As a result, let 
, then 
 and 
. The triangle 
 is 
 which 
. By angle subtraction, 
. Therefore, 
 and 
. By trapezoid area formula, the area of 
 is equal to 
 which 
.
~math2718281828459
Solution 7 (Heron's Formula)
Let the points formed by dropping altitudes from 
 to the lines 
, 
, and 
 be 
, 
, and 
, respectively.
We have
and
For convenience, let 
. By Heron's formula on 
, we have sides 
 and semiperimeter 
, so
so 
.
Then,
and
Finally, recalling that 
 is isosceles,
so 
.
Solution 8 (Similar Triangles and Pythagorean Theorem)
Make 
 perpendicular to 
; 
 perpendicular to 
; 
 perpendicular 
.
It's obvious that 
. Let 
. Then make 
 perpendicular to 
, it's easy to get 
.
Since 
 parallel to 
, 
, so 
. After drawing the altitude, it's obvious that 
, so 
. According to the property of similar triangles, 
. So, 
, or 
.
Now, we see the 
, pretty easy to find that 
, then we get 
, then express 
 into 
 form that 
we put the length of 
 back to 
: 
. So, 
After calculating, we can have a final equation of 
. It's easy to find 
 then 
. So, the area of the trapezoid is 
.
~bluesoul
Video Solution
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6rLnl8z7lnM
See Also
| 2021 AIME I (Problems • Answer Key • Resources) | ||
| Preceded by Problem 8  | 
Followed by Problem 10  | |
| 1 • 2 • 3 • 4 • 5 • 6 • 7 • 8 • 9 • 10 • 11 • 12 • 13 • 14 • 15 | ||
| All AIME Problems and Solutions | ||
These problems are copyrighted © by the Mathematical Association of America, as part of the American Mathematics Competitions.