Maths Olympiad Prep

Library / /2 of 10

Geometry Difficulty 5.2 AIME, harder Find the answer Italy

Let ABCDABCD be a parallelogram such that the bisector from BB intersects side CDCD at its midpoint MM. Side BCBC has length 66, and diagonal ACAC has length 1414. Determine the length of AMAM.

Pick one

Solution

Solution:

Figure 1

We observe that triangle MBCMBC is isosceles with base MBMB: indeed CBM^=MBA^\widehat{CBM}=\widehat{MBA}, by hypothesis, and ABM^=BMC^\widehat{ABM}=\widehat{BMC}, since they are alternate interior angles with respect to the parallels DCABDC \parallel AB. Hence
AB=DC=2MC=2CB=26=12 \overline{AB}=\overline{DC}=2\,\overline{MC}=2\,\overline{CB}=2 \cdot 6=12
Let us call KK the projection of CC onto ABAB and set h=CKh=\overline{CK} and d=BKd=\overline{BK}. We find hh and dd through the system
{BC2h2=d2AC2h2=(AB+d)2 \left\{\begin{array}{l} \overline{BC}^2-h^2=d^2 \\ \overline{AC}^2-h^2=(\overline{AB}+d)^2 \end{array}\right.
from which, subtracting the equations, we get d=2/3d=2/3 and h=85/3h=8\sqrt{5}/3.

Calling HH the projection of MM onto ABAB, we have
AH=AB+BKHK, \overline{AH}=\overline{AB}+\overline{BK}-\overline{HK},
where HK=MC\overline{HK}=\overline{MC} (because HKCMHKCM is a rectangle by construction) and AB=2MC\overline{AB}=2\,\overline{MC}. It follows that AH=MC+d=20/3\overline{AH}=\overline{MC}+d=20/3 and AM2=(AH)2+h2=80\overline{AM}^2=(\overline{AH})^2+h^2=80. Consequently AM=45\overline{AM}=4\sqrt{5}.

Second solution. As before we have AB=2BC\overline{AB}=2\,\overline{BC}. We observe that triangle ABMABM is right-angled at MM: indeed, calling NN the midpoint of AB\overline{AB}, we have NMBC\overline{NM} \parallel \overline{BC}, so NM=AN=NB=6\overline{NM}=\overline{AN}=\overline{NB}=6, hence MM lies on a circle of radius 66 centered at NN and in particular the angle at MM is right. Calling β\beta the angle ABM^\widehat{ABM}, we have AM=ABsinβ=12sinβ\overline{AM}=\overline{AB}\sin\beta=12\sin\beta. Knowing the sides of triangle ABCABC we can obtain cos(2β)\cos(2\beta) by means of the law of cosines:
AB2+BC22ABBCcos(2β)=AC2, \overline{AB}^2+\overline{BC}^2-2\overline{AB}\cdot\overline{BC}\cos(2\beta)=\overline{AC}^2,
from which cos(2β)=1/9\cos(2\beta)=-1/9. Thanks to the cosine addition formula we can obtain sinβ\sin\beta from the equation cos(2β)=12sin2β\cos(2\beta)=1-2\sin^2\beta, from which sinβ=5/3\sin\beta=\sqrt{5}/3. Thus AM=125/3=45\overline{AM}=12\cdot\sqrt{5}/3=4\sqrt{5}.

Third solution. From Heron's formula we obtain that the area of triangle ABCABC is 16516\sqrt{5}. This area is also equal to the area of ABMABM, which in turn is twice the area of ANMANM. Calling 2x2x the length of AM\overline{AM}, we must have 1/22x62x2=1/2165=851/2 \cdot 2x \cdot \sqrt{6^2-x^2}=1/2 \cdot 16\sqrt{5}=8\sqrt{5}. Squaring both sides and solving for x2x^2 we find 2x=452x=4\sqrt{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 translated into English from it; metadata (topic, difficulty) added by this project.