Maths Olympiad Prep

Track / Stage 3 / 31 of 260 #31 of 1964

Problem 31

AMC 10/12, early questions
Geometry Difficulty 3.1 Multiple choice

A line passing through the focus of the parabola C:y2=4xC: y^{2}=4x intersects the parabola at points A(x1,y1)A(x_{1},y_{1}) and B(x2,y2)B(x_{2},y_{2}). If x1+x2=9x_{1}+x_{2}=9, then AB=|AB|= _____

Pick one

Official solution

Given the problem, we have p=2p=2, so the equation of the directrix of the parabola is x=1x=-1.

Since the line through the focus of the parabola y2=4xy^{2}=4x intersects the parabola at points A(x1,y1)A(x_{1},y_{1}) and B(x2,y2)B(x_{2},y_{2}),

it follows that AB=x1+x2+2|AB|=x_{1}+x_{2}+2.

Given x1+x2=9x_{1}+x_{2}=9,

thus, AB=x1+x2+2=11|AB|=x_{1}+x_{2}+2=11.

Therefore, the correct choice is A\boxed{A}.

The line through the focus of the parabola y2=4xy^{2}=4x intersects the parabola at points A(x1,y1)A(x_{1},y_{1}) and B(x2,y2)B(x_{2},y_{2}), hence AB=x1+x2+2|AB|=x_{1}+x_{2}+2, from which the chord length can be easily determined.

This problem tests the simple properties of a parabola. The key to solving the problem is understanding that the distance to the focus is equal to the distance to the directrix. This relationship transforms the problem of finding the chord length into a problem of finding the distance from a point to a line, significantly reducing the difficulty of solving the problem.

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