Maths Olympiad Prep

Track / Stage 3 / 147 of 260 #147 of 1964

Problem 147

AMC 10/12, early questions
Geometry Difficulty 3.5 Find the answer

Given points O(0, 0), A(2, 0), B(1, 23-2\sqrt{3}), and P, a moving point on the curve y=1x24y = \sqrt{1 - \frac{x^2}{4}}, determine the range of values for OPBA\overrightarrow{OP} \cdot \overrightarrow{BA}.

A number or a short expression. Spacing, $ signs and \frac vs / are all fine.

Official solution

Points O(0, 0), A(2, 0), B(1, 23-2\sqrt{3}), and P, a moving point on the curve y=1x24y = \sqrt{1 - \frac{x^2}{4}} are given.

Let P be represented as (2cosθ,sinθ)(2\cos{\theta}, \sin{\theta}), where θ[0,π]\theta \in [0, \pi].

Then, OPBA=2cosθ+23sinθ=4sin(θ+π6)[2,4]\overrightarrow{OP} \cdot \overrightarrow{BA} = 2\cos{\theta} + 2\sqrt{3}\sin{\theta} = 4\sin{(\theta + \frac{\pi}{6})} \in [-2, 4].

Therefore, the answer is [2,4]\boxed{[-2, 4]}.

This problem can be solved by setting up P's coordinates using the given conditions, applying the dot product of vectors, and utilizing trigonometric functions of the sum and difference of angles. Accurately setting up P's coordinates is the key to solving this problem. It tests the application of the dot product of vectors, the parametric equation of an ellipse, and trigonometric functions of the sum and difference of angles.

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