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2024 AMC 12A Problem 19

Problem 19 of 25HarderGeometry

Cyclic quadrilateral ABCDABCD has lengths BC=CD=3BC=CD=3 and DA=5DA=5 with CDA=120.\angle CDA=120^\circ. What is the length of the shorter diagonal of ABCD?ABCD?

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Solution

In ACD,\triangle ACD, the law of cosines gives AC2=9+252(15)cos120AC^2=9+25-2(15)\cos120^\circ =34+15=49,=34+15=49, so AC=7.AC=7. Since ABCDABCD is cyclic, ABC=180120=60.\angle ABC=180^\circ-120^\circ=60^\circ. In ABC\triangle ABC with BC=3BC=3 and AC=7,AC=7, the law of cosines gives 49=AB2+93AB,49=AB^2+9-3AB, so AB=8.AB=8. By Ptolemy, ACBD=ABCD+BCDAAC\cdot BD=AB\cdot CD+BC\cdot DA =83+35=39,=8\cdot3+3\cdot5=39, hence BD=397.BD=\tfrac{39}{7}. This is shorter than AC=7.AC=7. Thus, the correct answer is D.

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Concepts: cyclic quadrilateral · law of cosines · Ptolemy’s Theorem

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