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AMC 12 Mock Exam 2 Problem 15

Problem 15 of 25

In regular hexagon ABCDEFABCDEF, diagonals AC‾\overline{AC} and BD‾\overline{BD} intersect at point PP. What fraction of the area of the hexagon is the area of triangle BCPBCP?

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Solution

Let the side length be ss. The reflection of the hexagon across the perpendicular bisector of BC‾\overline{BC} swaps BB with CC and AA with DD, so it swaps the diagonals AC‾\overline{AC} and BD‾\overline{BD}; hence their intersection PP lies on that perpendicular bisector, and PB=PCPB=PC.

In triangle BCDBCD, BC=CD=sBC=CD=s and ∠BCD=120∘\angle BCD=120^\circ, so ∠DBC=30∘\angle DBC=30^\circ. Thus △BCP\triangle BCP is isosceles with base BC=sBC=s and base angles 30∘30^\circ, so its height is s2tan⁡30∘=s23\frac s2\tan30^\circ=\frac{s}{2\sqrt3} and its area is 12⋅s⋅s23=s243=312s2\frac12\cdot s\cdot\frac{s}{2\sqrt3}=\frac{s^2}{4\sqrt3}=\frac{\sqrt3}{12}s^2.

The hexagon consists of six equilateral triangles of side ss, with total area 332s2\frac{3\sqrt3}{2}s^2. The ratio is 3/1233/2=118\frac{\sqrt3/12}{3\sqrt3/2}=\boxed{\tfrac{1}{18}}.

Tagged: regular hexagon: intersecting diagonals, area ratio