2007 AIME I Problem 15

Attempt Problem 15 of the 2007 AIME I 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 2007 AIME I solutions, or check the answer key.

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15.

Let ABCABC be an equilateral triangle, and let DD and FF be points on sides BCBC and AB,AB, respectively, with FA=5FA = 5 and CD=2.CD = 2. Point EE lies on side CACA such that ∠DEF=60∘.\angle DEF = 60^\circ. The area of triangle DEFDEF is 143.14\sqrt{3}. The two possible values of the length of side ABAB are p±qr,p \pm q\sqrt{r}, where pp and qq are rational, and rr is an integer not divisible by the square of a prime. Find r.r.

Answer: 989
Concepts:equilateral trianglesimilaritytriangle areaquadratic
Difficulty rating: 3370
Small Hint:

Let AB=sAB = s and AE=t,AE = t, and subtract the three corner triangles from [ABC][ABC] to get 5(s−t)+2t=665(s-t) + 2t = 66

Big Hint:

∠DEF=60∘\angle DEF = 60^\circ forces △AEF∼△CDE,\triangle AEF \sim \triangle CDE, so t(s−t)=10t(s - t) = 10

Solution:

Let s=ABs = AB and t=AE.t = AE. Using the 60∘60^\circ angles at A,A, B,B, CC and the area formula 12xysin⁡60∘:\frac{1}{2}xy\sin 60^\circ: [AEF]=34⋅5t,[AEF] = \frac{\sqrt{3}}{4} \cdot 5t, [BFD]=34(s−5)(s−2),[BFD] = \frac{\sqrt{3}}{4}(s-5)(s-2), and [CDE]=34⋅2(s−t).[CDE] = \frac{\sqrt{3}}{4} \cdot 2(s-t). Subtracting all three from [ABC]=34s2[ABC] = \frac{\sqrt{3}}{4}s^2 and simplifying, [DEF]=34(5(s−t)+2t−10)=143,\begin{aligned} [DEF] &= \frac{\sqrt{3}}{4}\bigl(5(s - t) + 2t - 10\bigr) \\ &= 14\sqrt{3}, \end{aligned} so 5(s−t)+2t=66.5(s - t) + 2t = 66.

At E,E, the angles ∠AEF\angle AEF and ∠CED\angle CED sum to 180∘−60∘=120∘,180^\circ - 60^\circ = 120^\circ, while in triangle AEFAEF the angles ∠AEF\angle AEF and ∠AFE\angle AFE also sum to 120∘.120^\circ. Hence ∠AFE=∠CED,\angle AFE = \angle CED, and since ∠A=∠C=60∘,\angle A = \angle C = 60^\circ, triangles AEFAEF and CDECDE are similar. Then AEAF=CDCE\frac{AE}{AF} = \frac{CD}{CE} gives t5=2s−t,\frac{t}{5} = \frac{2}{s - t}, so t(s−t)=10.t(s - t) = 10.

Substituting s−t=10ts - t = \frac{10}{t} into 5(s−t)+2t=665(s - t) + 2t = 66 gives 50t+2t=66,\frac{50}{t} + 2t = 66, or t2−33t+25=0,t^2 - 33t + 25 = 0, so t=33±9892.t = \frac{33 \pm \sqrt{989}}{2}. From 25t=33−t\frac{25}{t} = 33 - t we get 10t=25(33−t),\frac{10}{t} = \frac{2}{5}(33 - t), so s=t+10t=3t+665=231±398910.s = t + \frac{10}{t} = \frac{3t + 66}{5} = \frac{231 \pm 3\sqrt{989}}{10}. Both values yield valid configurations, so r=989.r = 989.

Problem 14#14
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