Maths Olympiad Prep

Library / /183 of 213

, 2025

Geometry Difficulty 3.6 AMC 10/12 Find the answer Canada

Points BB and DD lie on sides ACAC and CECE, respectively, of ACE\triangle ACE, as shown.

If $CAE=CBD=90°\$\angle CAE=\angle CBD=90\degreeand and CB=BD=DE,themeasureof, the measure of \angle ABE$ is

Pick one

Solution

In CBD\triangle CBD, CB=BDCB=BD and so BCD\angle BCD and BDC\angle BDC have equal measures. The sum
of the angles in a triangle is 180°\degree, and since CBD=90°\angle CBD=90\degree, then BCD=BDC=45°\angle BCD=\angle BDC=45\degree.

(We confirm that 90°+45°+45°=180°90\degree+45\degree+45\degree=180\degree.)

Since CDE\angle CDE is a straight
angle, then $BDE+BDC=180°\$\angle BDE+\angle BDC=180\degreeor or BDE=180°45°=135°$.\angle BDE=180\degree-45\degree=135\degree\$.

In BDE\triangle BDE, BD=DEBD=DE and so DBE\angle DBE and DEB\angle DEB have equal measures. The sum
of the angles in a triangle is 180°\degree, and since BDE=135°\angle BDE=135\degree, then $DBE=180°135°2=22.5°$.\$\angle DBE=\dfrac{180\degree-135\degree}{2}= 22.5\degree\$.

Finally, since ABC\angle ABC is a
straight angle, then $ABE+DBE+DBC=180°\$\angle ABE+\angle DBE+\angle DBC=180\degreeor or ABE=180°22.5°90°=67.5°$.\angle ABE=180\degree-22.5\degree-90\degree=67.5\degree\$.

Want a route through all this instead of an archive? The track puts 2,444 problems in a working order, from Junior Challenge level to the IMO shortlist.

Source: CEMC, University of Waterloo, licensed CC-BY-NC-4.0. Statement reproduced verbatim; metadata (topic, difficulty) added by this project.