Maths Olympiad Prep

Library / /12 of 17

Geometry Difficulty 2.9 Junior Find the answer Netherlands

A rectangle ABCDABCD stands with side ABAB on the ground and with side BCBC against the wall. The length of the side ADAD is 44, the length of the side CDCD is 33, and the length of the diagonal ACAC is 55. The rectangle is tilted with point AA as the pivot point such that point CC is straight above point AA.
Figure 1
In this situation, what is the distance from point BB to the wall?
A) 23\frac{2}{3}
B) 35\frac{3}{5}
C) 58\frac{5}{8}
D) 712\frac{7}{12}
E) 813\frac{8}{13}

This was a multiple-choice question, but the options didn't survive into the source we have. The answer given is B, and the solution below works it through.

Solution

B) 35\frac{3}{5}

Want a route through all this instead of an archive? The track puts 2,000 problems in a working order, from AMC 10 level to the IMO shortlist.

Source: MathNet, licensed CC-BY-4.0. Statement and solution reproduced as published; topic and difficulty added by this site.