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2019 AMC 10B Problem 5

Problem 5 of 25EasierGeometry

Triangle ABCABC lies in the first quadrant. Points A,A, B,B, and CC are reflected across the line y=xy=x to points A,A', B,B', and C,C', respectively. Assume that none of the vertices of the triangle lie on the line y=x.y=x. Which of the following statements is not always true?

Answer choices

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Solution

Reflection across y=xy=x sends (x,y)(x,y) to (y,x)(y,x). It therefore preserves the first quadrant and preserves area, so A and B are always true. The direction from (x,y)(x,y) to its image (y,x)(y,x) is (yx,xy)(y-x,x-y), whose slope is 1-1 because xyx\ne y. Thus C and D are always true as well. For E, take A=(2,1)A=(2,1), B=(3,2)B=(3,2), and C=(4,1)C=(4,1). These points satisfy all the conditions, but ABAB and ABA'B' both have slope 11, so the two lines are parallel rather than perpendicular. Thus, the answer is E .

More practice

Concepts: transformation · coordinate geometry · slope

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