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2023 AMC 12B Problem 20

Problem 20 of 25HarderGeometryCounting & Probability

Cyrus the frog jumps 22 units in a direction, then 22 more in another direction. What is the probability that he lands less than 11 unit away from his starting position?

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Solution

Take the first jump as (2,0)(2,0) and the second as (2cosθ,2sinθ)(2\cos\theta,2\sin\theta) with θ\theta uniform on [0,2π).[0,2\pi). The landing distance satisfies R2=(2+2cosθ)2R^2=(2+2\cos\theta)^2 +(2sinθ)2+(2\sin\theta)^2 =8+8cosθ.=8+8\cos\theta. We need R<1,R\lt 1, i.e. cosθ<78.\cos\theta\lt-\tfrac78. The measure of such angles is 2arccos78,2\arccos\tfrac78, so the probability is 2arccos782π=arccos78π.\dfrac{2\arccos\tfrac78}{2\pi}= \dfrac{\arccos\tfrac78}{\pi}. Using arccos(12x2)=2arcsinx\arccos(1-2x^2)=2\arcsin x with x=14x=\tfrac14 gives arccos78=2arcsin14,\arccos\tfrac78=2\arcsin\tfrac14, so the probability is 2arcsin14π.\dfrac{2\arcsin\tfrac14}{\pi}. Thus, the correct answer is E.

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Concepts: geometric probability · law of cosines

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