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Geometry Difficulty 4.9 AIME Find the answer

Let TT be a trapezoid with two right angles and side lengths 4,4,54,4,5, and 17\sqrt{17}. Two line segments are drawn, connecting the midpoints of opposite sides of TT and dividing TT into 4 regions. If the difference between the areas of the largest and smallest of these regions is dd, compute 240d240 d.

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

Solution

By checking all the possibilities, one can show that TT has height 4 and base lengths 4 and 5. Orient TT so that the shorter base is on the top. Then, the length of the cut parallel to the bases is 4+52=92\frac{4+5}{2}=\frac{9}{2}. Thus, the top two pieces are trapezoids with height 2 and base lengths 2 and 94\frac{9}{4}, while the bottom two pieces are trapezoids with height 2 and base lengths 94\frac{9}{4} and 52\frac{5}{2}. Thus, using the area formula for a trapezoid, the difference between the largest and smallest areas is d=(52+94942)22=12d=\frac{\left(\frac{5}{2}+\frac{9}{4}-\frac{9}{4}-2\right) \cdot 2}{2}=\frac{1}{2}

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