1985 AIME Problem 6

Attempt Problem 6 of the 1985 AIME below, then check your answer against the professionally curated solution from LIVE by Po-Shen Loh. You can also try the full timed exam, view all 1985 AIME solutions, or check the answer key.

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6.

As shown in the figure, triangle ABCABC is divided into six smaller triangles by lines drawn from the vertices through a common interior point. The areas of four of these triangles are as indicated. Find the area of triangle ABC.ABC.

Answer: 315
Concepts:triangle areaarea ratioCeva’s Theorem
Difficulty rating: 2440
Small Hint:

Call the upper-right unlabeled area xx and the upper-left unlabeled area yy

Big Hint:

Use equal-altitude area ratios along the sides, together with Ceva’s theorem

Solution:

Let the unlabeled upper-right and upper-left areas be xx and y,y, respectively. The three side-division ratios and Ceva’s theorem give 4335x84y=1, \frac43\cdot\frac{35}{x}\cdot\frac{84}{y}=1, so xy=3920.xy=3920.

The cevian from AA meets BC.BC. The ratio of the two segments of BCBC is 35x.\frac{35}{x}. Computing the same ratio from the two large triangles with vertex AA gives 35x=40+30+35x+y+84, \frac{35}{x}=\frac{40+30+35}{x+y+84}, so y+84=2x.y+84=2x. Solving with xy=3920xy=3920 yields x=70x=70 and y=56.y=56. Therefore [ABC]=84+70+35+30+40+56=315. \begin{aligned} [ABC]&=84+70+35\\ &\quad{}+30+40+56=315. \end{aligned}

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