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2021 Fall AMC 12B Problem 15

Problem 15 of 25IntermediateGeometryProblem-Solving Techniques

Three identical square sheets of paper each with side length 66 are stacked on top of each other. The middle sheet is rotated clockwise 30∘30^\circ about its center and the top sheet is rotated clockwise 60∘60^\circ about its center, resulting in the 2424-sided polygon shown in the figure below. The area of this polygon can be expressed in the form a−bc,a - b\sqrt{c}, where a,a, b,b, and cc are positive integers, and cc is not divisible by the square of any prime. What is a+b+c?a + b + c?

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Solution

Because the three squares are rotated by 0∘,0^\circ, 30∘,30^\circ, and 60∘,60^\circ, the figure has 1212-fold symmetry. Its 2424 vertices alternate every 15∘15^\circ: outer vertices are the square corners at distance 323\sqrt2 from the center, and inner vertices are edge crossings at distance 23.2\sqrt3. Connecting the center to all 2424 vertices splits the polygon into 2424 triangles, each with sides 323\sqrt2 and 232\sqrt3 and included angle 15∘.15^\circ. The total area is 24⋅12(32)(23)sin⁡15∘=726⋅6−24. \begin{aligned} &24 \cdot \tfrac12 (3\sqrt2)(2\sqrt3)\sin 15^\circ \\ &= 72\sqrt6 \cdot \dfrac{\sqrt6 - \sqrt2}{4}. \end{aligned} This simplifies to 186(6−2)=108−363,18\sqrt6(\sqrt6 - \sqrt2) = 108 - 36\sqrt3, so a+b+c=108+36+3=147.a + b + c = 108 + 36 + 3 = 147. Thus, the correct answer is E.
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Tagged: area decomposition · trigonometry · symmetry

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