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Algebra Difficulty 2.7 Junior Find the answer Canada

The area of the triangular region bounded by the xx-axis, the yy-axis and the line with equation y=2x6y = 2x - 6 is one-quarter of the area of
the triangular region bounded by the xx-axis, the line with equation y=2x6y = 2x - 6 and the line with equation
x=dx = d, where d>0d > 0. What is the value of dd?

Pick one

Solution

The line with equation $y = 2x -
6has has yintercept-intercept -6$.

Also, the xx-intercept of y=2x6y = 2x - 6 occurs when y=0y = 0, which gives 0=2x60 = 2x - 6 or 2x=62x = 6 which gives x=3x = 3.

Therefore, the triangle bounded by the xx-axis, the yy-axis, and the line with equation y=2x6y = 2x - 6 has base of length 3 and
height of length 6, and so has area 12×3×6=9\frac{1}{2} \times 3 \times 6 = 9.

We want the area of the triangle bounded by the xx-axis, the vertical line with equation
x=dx=d, and the line with equation
y=2x6y = 2x - 6 to be 4 times this area,
or 36.

This means that x=dx=d is to the right
of the point (3,0)(3,0), because the new
area is larger. In other words, d>3d>3.

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The base of this triangle has length d3d-3, and its height is 2d62d-6, since the height is measured along
the vertical line with equation $x =
d$.

Thus, we want $12(d3)(2d6)\$\frac{1}{2}(d-3)(2d-6) =
36or or (d-3)(d-3) = 36$
which means (d3)2=36(d-3)^2 = 36.

Since d3>0d-3 > 0, then d3=6d-3 = 6 which gives d=9d = 9.

Alternatively, we could note that if similar triangles have areas in the
ratio 4:14:1 then their corresponding
lengths are in the ratio 4:1\sqrt{4}:1
or 2:12:1.

Since the two triangles in question are similar (both are right-angled
and they have equal angles at the point (3,0)(3,0)), the larger triangle has base of
length 2×3=62 \times 3 = 6 and so d=3+6=9d = 3 + 6 = 9.

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