Maths Olympiad Prep

Library / /199 of 860

Geometry Difficulty 4.9 AIME Find the answer

Find the volume of the set of points (x,y,z)(x, y, z) satisfying x,y,z0x+y1y+z1z+x1\begin{array}{r} x, y, z \geq 0 \\ x+y \leq 1 \\ y+z \leq 1 \\ z+x \leq 1 \end{array}

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

Solution

Without loss of generality, assume that xyx \geq y - half the volume of the solid is on this side of the plane x=yx=y. For each value of cc from 0 to 12\frac{1}{2}, the region of the intersection of this half of the solid with the plane y=cy=c is a trapezoid. The trapezoid has height 12c1-2 c and average base 12\frac{1}{2}, so it has an area of 12c\frac{1}{2}-c. The total volume of this region is 12\frac{1}{2} times the average area of the trapezoids, which is 1214=18\frac{1}{2} \cdot \frac{1}{4}=\frac{1}{8}. Double that to get the total volume, which is 14\frac{1}{4}.

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