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2018 AMC 12B Problem 12

Problem 12 of 25IntermediateGeometry

Side AB\overline{AB} of ABC\triangle ABC has length 10.10. The bisector of angle AA meets BC\overline{BC} at D,D, and CD=3.CD=3. The set of all possible values of ACAC is an open interval (m,n).(m, n). What is m+n?m+n?

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Solution

Let q=ACq=AC and r=BD.r=BD. The angle bisector theorem gives q3=10r,\tfrac{q}{3}=\tfrac{10}{r}, so r=30q.r=\tfrac{30}{q}. Applying the triangle inequalities to sides q,q, 10,10, and 3+r3+r and substituting r=30qr=\tfrac{30}{q} yields (q15)(q+2)<0(q-15)(q+2)\lt0 and (q3)(q+10)>0(q-3)(q+10)\gt0 (the third inequality holds automatically). Together these force 3<q<15.3\lt q\lt15. So (m,n)=(3,15)(m,n)=(3,15) and m+n=18.m+n=18. Thus, the correct answer is C.

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Concepts: angle bisector theorem · triangle inequality

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