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2023 AMC 12B Problem 11

Problem 11 of 25IntermediateAlgebraGeometry

What is the maximum area of an isosceles trapezoid that has legs of length 11 and one base twice as long as the other?

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Solution

Let the bases be aa and 2a.2a. Each leg has horizontal offset a2,\tfrac{a}{2}, so the height is 1a24\sqrt{1-\tfrac{a^2}{4}} and the area is A=3a21a24.A=\tfrac{3a}{2}\sqrt{1-\tfrac{a^2}{4}}. Then A2=94(a2a44),A^2=\tfrac94\left(a^2-\tfrac{a^4}{4}\right), maximized when a2=2.a^2=2. There the height is 12\tfrac{1}{\sqrt2} and A=32212=32.A=\tfrac{3\sqrt2}{2}\cdot\tfrac{1}{\sqrt2}=\tfrac{3}{2}. Thus, the correct answer is D.

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Concepts: trapezoid · optimization

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