Maths Olympiad Prep

Library / /11 of 30

Geometry Difficulty 5.4 AIME, harder Find the answer Italy

Problem:

Let ABCDABCD be a trapezoid with bases ABAB and CDCD inscribed in a circle Γ\Gamma, such that the diagonals ACAC and BDBD are perpendicular. Let PP be the point of intersection of the diagonals ACAC and BDBD; what is the ratio between the area of Γ\Gamma and the sum of the areas of triangles APBAPB and CPDCPD?

Pick one

Solution

Solution:

The answer is (C)\mathbf{(C)}. Let OO and rr be respectively the center and the radius of the circle Γ\Gamma. Observe that the trapezoid must necessarily be isosceles (because it is inscribable in a circle), hence the diagonals are equal and AP=PBAP = PB (so also PC=PDPC = PD). Therefore the triangles APBAPB and BPCBPC are isosceles and right-angled: they have area respectively BP22\frac{BP^2}{2} and PC22\frac{PC^2}{2}.

Moreover, since triangle APBAPB is isosceles and right-angled, we find 45=PAB^=CAB^=COB^245^\circ = \widehat{PAB} = \widehat{CAB} = \frac{\widehat{COB}}{2}: that is, COB^=90\widehat{COB} = 90^\circ. By the Pythagorean theorem on triangles BPCBPC and BOCBOC we find that: 2r2=BC2=BP2+PC22r^2 = BC^2 = BP^2 + PC^2.

The sum of the areas of triangles APBAPB and BPCBPC equals BP2+PC22=r2\frac{BP^2 + PC^2}{2} = r^2 and the ratio sought is πr2r2=π\frac{\pi r^2}{r^2} = \pi.

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 translated into English from it; metadata (topic, difficulty) added by this project.