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2001 AMC 12 Problem 20

Problem 20 of 25HarderGeometry

Points A=(3,9),A = (3, 9), B=(1,1),B = (1, 1), C=(5,3),C = (5, 3), and D=(a,b)D = (a, b) lie in the first quadrant and are the vertices of quadrilateral ABCD.ABCD. The quadrilateral formed by joining the midpoints of AB‾,\overline{AB}, BC‾,\overline{BC}, CD‾,\overline{CD}, and DA‾\overline{DA} is a square. What is the sum of the coordinates of point D?D?

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Solution

The midpoints are M=(2,5)M = (2, 5) of AB‾\overline{AB} and N=(3,2)N = (3, 2) of BC‾.\overline{BC}. For the midpoint quadrilateral to be a square, consecutive sides are perpendicular and equal. With NM→=⟨−1,3⟩,\overrightarrow{NM} = \langle -1, 3 \rangle, the side MQ→\overrightarrow{MQ} to the midpoint QQ of DA‾\overline{DA} must be ⟨3,1⟩,\langle 3, 1 \rangle, so Q=(5,6).Q = (5, 6). Since QQ is the midpoint of DA‾\overline{DA} and A=(3,9),A = (3, 9), we get D=2Q−A=(7,3).D = 2Q - A = (7, 3). The sum of its coordinates is 7+3=10.7 + 3 = 10. Thus, the correct answer is C.
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Tagged: coordinate geometry · midpoint · vector

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