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2015 AMC 10A Problem 11

Problem 11 of 25IntermediateAlgebraGeometry

The ratio of the length to the width of a rectangle is 4:3.4:3. If the rectangle has diagonal of length d,d, then the area may be expressed as kd2kd^2 for some constant k.k. What is k?k?

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Solution

Let the side lengths be 4x4x and 3x.3x. Then the diagonal has length (4x)2+(3x)2=25x2=5x. \sqrt{(4x)^2 + (3x)^2} = \sqrt{25x^2} = 5x. The area of the rectangle is 4x3x=12x2. 4x \cdot 3x = 12x^2. Then we get that kd2=12x2 kd^2 = 12x^2 k=12x225x2=1225. k = \dfrac{12x^2}{25x^2} = \dfrac{12}{25}. Thus, C is the correct answer.

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Concepts: rectangle · Pythagorean Theorem · ratio and proportion

Problem text and solution from the LIVE past-contest archive. See also the AoPS wiki page for community solutions.