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2008 AMC 12B Problem 13

Problem 13 of 25IntermediateAlgebraGeometry

Vertex EE of equilateral △ABE\triangle ABE is in the interior of unit square ABCD.ABCD. Let RR be the region consisting of all points inside ABCDABCD and outside △ABE\triangle ABE whose distance from AD‾\overline{AD} is between 13\tfrac{1}{3} and 23.\tfrac{2}{3}. What is the area of R?R?

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Solution

Place A=(0,0),A = (0,0), B=(1,0),B = (1,0), C=(1,1),C = (1,1), D=(0,1),D = (0,1), so AD‾\overline{AD} lies along the yy-axis and distance from AD‾\overline{AD} is the xx-coordinate. The region lies in the strip 13≤x≤23,\tfrac13 \le x \le \tfrac23, which within the square has area 13.\tfrac13. Equilateral △ABE\triangle ABE has E=(12,32),E = \left(\tfrac12, \tfrac{\sqrt3}{2}\right), with side AEAE on y=3 xy = \sqrt3\,x and side BEBE on y=3(1−x).y = \sqrt3(1 - x). The area of the triangle inside the strip is ∫13123 x dx+∫12233(1−x) dx=2∫13123 x dx=5336. \begin{aligned} &\int_{\frac{1}{3}}^{\frac{1}{2}} \sqrt3\,x\,dx \\ &\quad {}+ \int_{\frac{1}{2}}^{\frac{2}{3}} \sqrt3(1 - x)\,dx \\ &= 2\int_{\frac{1}{3}}^{\frac{1}{2}}\sqrt3\,x\,dx \\ &= \frac{5\sqrt3}{36}. \end{aligned} Therefore [R]=13−5336=12−5336. [R] = \frac13 - \frac{5\sqrt3}{36} = \frac{12 - 5\sqrt3}{36}. Thus, the correct answer is B.
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Tagged: coordinate geometry · equilateral triangle · calculus

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