Skip to main content

2010 AMC 12A Problem 17

Problem 17 of 25IntermediateAlgebraGeometry

Equiangular hexagon ABCDEFABCDEF has side lengths AB=CD=EF=1AB=CD=EF=1 and BC=DE=FA=r.BC=DE=FA=r. The area of ACE\triangle ACE is 70%70\% of the area of the hexagon. What is the sum of all possible values of r?r?

Answer choices

Show solution

Solution

Note that ACE\triangle ACE is equilateral. Using the Law of Cosines in ABC,\triangle ABC, we get AC2=r2+122rcos120AC^2=r^2+1^2-2r\cos120^\circ =r2+r+1.=r^2+r+1. The area of ACE\triangle ACE is then 34(r2+r+1). \dfrac{\sqrt3}{4} (r^2 + r + 1). The three corner triangles ABC,\triangle ABC, CDE,\triangle CDE, and EFA\triangle EFA each have area 121rsin120=r34.\frac12\cdot1\cdot r\cdot\sin120^\circ=\frac{r\sqrt3}{4}. Thus the hexagon has area 34(r2+r+1)\dfrac{\sqrt3}{4}(r^2+r+1) +3r34+3\cdot\dfrac{r\sqrt3}{4} =34(r2+4r+1).=\dfrac{\sqrt3}{4}(r^2+4r+1). The condition [ACE]=70%[ABCDEF][ACE]=70\%\cdot[ABCDEF] gives r2+r+1=710(r2+4r+1),r^2+r+1=\dfrac{7}{10}(r^2+4r+1), so r26r+1=0.r^2-6r+1=0. By Vieta’s formulas, the sum of the possible values of rr is 6.6. Thus, E is the correct answer.

More practice

Concepts: equiangular polygon · law of cosines · Vieta’s Formulas

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