Maths Olympiad Prep

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Geometry Difficulty 6.1 National olympiad Find the answer

A trapezoid has side lengths as indicated in the figure (the sides with length 1111 and 3636 are parallel). Calculate the area of the trapezoid.[img]https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-5PKrqDG37X4/XzcJtCyUv8I/AAAAAAAAMY0/tB0FObJUJdcTlAJc4n6YNEaVIDfQ91-eQCLcBGAsYHQ/s0/1995%2BMohr%2Bp1.png[/img]

A number or a short expression. Spacing and $ signs are ignored.

Solution

To find the area of the trapezoid, we need to determine its height. We can use the Pythagorean theorem to find the height by solving for the unknowns in the given right triangles.

1. Set up the equations using the Pythagorean theorem:
- For the right triangle with hypotenuse 2525:
y2+x2=252 y^2 + x^2 = 25^2
- For the right triangle with hypotenuse 3030:
y2+(25x)2=302 y^2 + (25 - x)^2 = 30^2

2. **Solve the first equation for y2y^2:**
y2+x2=625 y^2 + x^2 = 625
y2=625x2 y^2 = 625 - x^2

3. **Substitute y2y^2 from the first equation into the second equation:**
625x2+(25x)2=900 625 - x^2 + (25 - x)^2 = 900
625x2+62550x+x2=900 625 - x^2 + 625 - 50x + x^2 = 900
125050x=900 1250 - 50x = 900

4. **Solve for xx:**
1250900=50x 1250 - 900 = 50x
350=50x 350 = 50x
x=7 x = 7

5. **Substitute x=7x = 7 back into the equation for y2y^2:**
y2=62572 y^2 = 625 - 7^2
y2=62549 y^2 = 625 - 49
y2=576 y^2 = 576
y=24 y = 24

6. Calculate the area of the trapezoid:
The area AA of a trapezoid is given by:
A=12×(b1+b2)×h A = \frac{1}{2} \times (b_1 + b_2) \times h
where b1b_1 and b2b_2 are the lengths of the parallel sides, and hh is the height.
A=12×(11+36)×24 A = \frac{1}{2} \times (11 + 36) \times 24
A=12×47×24 A = \frac{1}{2} \times 47 \times 24
A=12×1128 A = \frac{1}{2} \times 1128
A=564 A = 564

The final answer is 564\boxed{564}.

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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.