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HMMT February

Geometry Difficulty 5.2 AIME, harder Find the answer

Let ABCDA B C D be an isosceles trapezoid such that AB=17,BC=DA=25A B=17, B C=D A=25, and CD=31C D=31. Points PP and QQ are selected on sides ADA D and BCB C, respectively, such that AP=CQA P=C Q and PQ=25P Q=25. Suppose that the circle with diameter PQP Q intersects the sides ABA B and CDC D at four points which are vertices of a convex quadrilateral. Compute the area of this quadrilateral.

A number or a short expression. Fractions can be typed as 3/2, and spacing doesn't matter.

Solution

Let the midpoint of PQP Q be MM; note that MM lies on the midline of ABCDA B C D. Let B′C′B^{\prime} C^{\prime} be a translate of BCB C (parallel to ABA B and CDC D) so that MM is the midpoint of B′B^{\prime} and C′C^{\prime}. Since MB′=MC′=25/2=MP=MQ,B′M B^{\prime}=M C^{\prime}=25 / 2=M P=M Q, B^{\prime} and C′C^{\prime} are one of the four intersections of the circle with diameter PQP Q and the sides ABA B and CDC D. We may also define A′A^{\prime} and D′D^{\prime} similarly and get that they are also among the four points. It follows that the desired quadrilateral is B′D′C′A′B^{\prime} D^{\prime} C^{\prime} A^{\prime}, which is a rectangle with height equal to the height of ABCDA B C D (which is 24), and width equal to 12(31−17)=7\frac{1}{2}(31-17)=7. Thus the area is 24⋅7=16824 \cdot 7=168.

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