Maths Olympiad Prep

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, 2015

Geometry Difficulty 4.3 AIME Find the answer United States

Problem:

The three sides of a right triangle form a geometric sequence. Determine the ratio of the length of the hypotenuse to the length of the shorter leg.

A number or a short expression. Fractions can be typed as 3/2, and spacing doesn't matter.

Solution

Solution:

Answer: 1+52\frac{1+\sqrt{5}}{2}

Let the shorter leg have length \ell, and the common ratio of the geometric sequence be r>1r>1. Then the length of the other leg is r\ell r, and the length of the hypotenuse is r2\ell r^{2}. Hence,
2+(r)2=(r2)22(r2+1)=2r4r2+1=r4 \begin{gathered} \ell^{2}+(\ell r)^{2}=\left(\ell r^{2}\right)^{2} \\ \Longrightarrow \ell^{2}\left(r^{2}+1\right)=\ell^{2} r^{4} \\ \Longrightarrow r^{2}+1=r^{4} \end{gathered}
Hence, r4r21=0r^{4}-r^{2}-1=0, and therefore r2=1±52r^{2}=\frac{1 \pm \sqrt{5}}{2}. As r>1r>1, we have r2=1+52r^{2}=\frac{1+\sqrt{5}}{2}, completing the problem as the ratio of the hypotenuse to the shorter side is r2=r2\frac{\ell r^{2}}{\ell}=r^{2}.

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Source: MathNet, licensed CC-BY-4.0. Statement reproduced verbatim; metadata (topic, difficulty) added by this project.