Maths Olympiad Prep

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Geometry Difficulty 4.8 AIME Find the answer Italy

Problem:

Let ABCDABCD be a square inside which two segments are drawn that divide the angle at AA into three equal angles and the square into two equal triangles and a quadrilateral. What is the ratio between the area of the quadrilateral and that of one of the two triangles?

Pick one

Solution

Solution:

The answer is (E). Let ATAT and ASAS be the two segments drawn, with TT on side BCBC, SS on side CDCD; the angle at AA is right and we have divided it into three equal angles, so BA^T=SA^D=30B\widehat{A}T = S\widehat{A}D = 30^\circ. The right triangles ABTABT and ASDASD are therefore two halves of an equilateral triangle whose height is the side of the square. Calling ll the length of ABAB, the area of the remaining quadrilateral is thus by difference l212l23l=l2(113)l^2 - \frac{1}{2} l \frac{2}{\sqrt{3}} l = l^2\left(1-\frac{1}{\sqrt{3}}\right). The area of ABTABT instead equals 123l2\frac{1}{2\sqrt{3}} l^2 (half that of the equilateral triangle). Their ratio is 23(113)=2(31)2\sqrt{3}\left(1-\frac{1}{\sqrt{3}}\right) = 2(\sqrt{3}-1).

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Source: MathNet, licensed CC-BY-4.0. Statement translated into English from it; metadata (topic, difficulty) added by this project.