Equiangular hexagon ABCDEF has side lengths AB=CD=EF=1 and BC=DE=FA=r. The area of △ACE is 70% of the area of the hexagon. What is the sum of all possible values of r?
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Solution
Note that △ACE is equilateral. Using the Law of Cosines in △ABC, we get AC2=r2+12−2rcos120∘=r2+r+1.
The area of △ACE is then 43(r2+r+1).
The three corner triangles △ABC,△CDE, and △EFA each have area 21⋅1⋅r⋅sin120∘=4r3.
Thus the hexagon has area 43(r2+r+1)+3⋅4r3=43(r2+4r+1).
The condition [ACE]=70%⋅[ABCDEF] gives r2+r+1=107(r2+4r+1), so r2−6r+1=0.
By Vieta’s formulas, the sum of the possible values of r is 6.
Thus, E is the correct answer.