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Geometry Difficulty 4.3 AIME Find the answer

A rectangle with side lengths 11{ } and 3,3, a square with side length 1,1, and a rectangle RR are inscribed inside a larger square as shown. The sum of all possible values for the area of RR can be written in the form mn\tfrac mn, where mm and nn are relatively prime positive integers. What is m+n?m+n?

(A)14(\textbf{A})\: 14(B)23(\textbf{B}) \: 23(C)46(\textbf{C}) \: 46(D)59(\textbf{D}) \: 59(E)67(\textbf{E}) \: 67

Multiple choice: answer with the letter of the option you want.

Solution

We see that the polygon bounded by the small square, large square, and rectangle of known lengths is an isosceles triangle. Let’s draw a perpendicular from the vertex of this triangle to its opposing side;

We see that this creates two congruent triangles. Let the smaller side of the triangle have length aa and let the larger side of the triangle have length bb. Now we see by AAS congruency that if we draw perpendiculars that surround the smaller square, each outer triangle will be congruent to these two triangles.
Now notice that these small triangles are also similar to the large triangle bounded by the bigger square and the rectangle by AA, and the ratio of the sides are 1:3, so we can fill in the lengths of that triangle. Similarly, the small triangle on the right bounded by the rectangle and the square is also congruent to the other small triangles by AAS, so we can fill in those sides;

Since the larger square by definition has all equal sides, we can set the sum of the lengths of the sides equal to each other.
3a+b+b+a=3b+a    3a=b3a+b+b+a = 3b+a \implies 3a = b. Now let's draw some more perpendiculars and rename the side lengths.

By AA similarity, when we draw a perpendicular from the intersection of the two rectangles to the large square, we create a triangle below that is similar to the small congruent triangles with length a,3aa,3a. Since we don't know its scale, we'll label its sides c,3cc,3c.
The triangle that is created above the perpendicular is congruent to the triangle on the opposite of the rectangle with unknown dimensions because they share the same hypotenuse and have two angles in common. Thus we can label these two triangles accordingly.
The side length of the big square is 10a10a, so we can find the remaining dimensions of the triangle bounded by the rectangle with unknown dimensions and the large square in terms of aa and cc:

This triangle with side lengths 4ac4a-c and 6a3c6a-3c is similar to the triangle directly below it with side lengths 3a3a and 3c3c by AA similarity, so we can set up a ratio equation:
3a3c=6a3c4ac    4a2ac=3c2+6ac    4a27ac+3c2=0    (4a3c)(ac)=0\frac{3a}{3c} = \frac{6a-3c}{4a-c} \implies 4a^2-ac = -3c^2 + 6ac \implies 4a^2 - 7ac + 3c^2 = 0 \implies (4a-3c)(a-c) = 0.
There are two solutions to this equation; c=43ac = \frac{4}{3}a and c=ac = a. For the first solution, the triangle in the corner has sides 2a2a and 83a\frac{8}{3}a. Using Pythagorean theorem on that triangle, the hypotenuse has length 103a\frac{10}{3}a.
The triangle directly below has side lengths 3a3a and 4a4a in this case, so special right triangle yields the hypotenuse to be 5a5a.
The area of the rectangle is thus 5a103a=503a25a\cdot\frac{10}{3}a = \frac{50}{3}a^2.
For the second solution, the side lengths of the corner triangle are 3a3a and 3a3a, so the hypotenuse of the triangle is 32a3\sqrt{2}a. The triangle below that also has side lengths 3a3a and 3a3a, so its hypotenuse is the same. Then the area of the rectangle is (32a)2=18a2(3\sqrt{2}a)^2 = 18a^2.
The sum of the possible areas of the rectangle is therefore 18a2+503a2=1043a218a^2+\frac{50}{3}a^2 = \frac{104}{3}a^2.
Using Pythagorean theorem on the original small congruent triangles, a2+9a2=1a^2+9a^2 = 1 or a2=110a^2 = \frac{1}{10}. Therefore the sum of the possible areas of the rectangle is 1043110=5215\frac{104}{3}\cdot\frac{1}{10} = \frac{52}{15}. Therefore m=52m = 52, n=15n = 15, and m+n=67=Em + n = 67 = \boxed{E}
~KingRavi

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Source: NuminaMath-1.5, licensed Apache-2.0. Statement and solution reproduced as published; topic and difficulty added by this site.