A rectangular sheet of paper is folded so that one corner lies on top of the corner diagonally opposite. The resulting shape is a pentagon whose area is 20% one-sheet-thick, and 80% two-sheets-thick. Determine the ratio of the two sides of the original sheet of paper.
Solution
Solution:
Let the original rectangle be ABCD. Let the fold line be XY with point X lying on side AB and point Y lying on side CD. Consider the fold such that point D lands on point B. Let P be the location of corner A after the fold.
The two-sheets-thick area is △BXY which should be 80%. By symmetry, triangles △PXB and △CYB are congruent with equal hypotenuses
BX=BY.
Triangles △PXB and △CYB have equal area and their total area is 20% of rectangle ABCD. Therefore △BYC has area 10%. Hence the ratio of the areas ∣BYC∣:∣BXY∣ is 10%:80%. Both triangles have height BC equal to the height of rectangle ABCD. Therefore their bases are also in the ratio 1:8, i.e. XB=8YC.
∴BY=XB=8YC.
Now we apply Pythagoras' to △BCY to get
BC2=BY2−CY2=(8CY)2−CY2=63CY2.
Therefore BC=63CY.
Combining this with CD=CY+YD=CY+YB=9CY we get
BC:CD=7:3.
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