Question

A rectangular box has width $12$ inches, length $16$ inches, and height $\frac{m}{n}$ inches, where $m$ and $n$ are relatively prime positive integers. Three faces of the box meet at a corner of the box. The center points of those three faces are the vertices of a triangle with an area of $30$ square inches. Find $m + n.$

Answer

Answer: 41

Concepts:3D geometry vector triangle area

Difficulty rating: 2560

Solution:

Let the height be $h$ and place the corner at the origin, so the box is $[0,12] \times [0,16] \times [0,h].$ The three faces meeting at the origin have centers $P = (6, 8, 0),$ $Q = \left(0, 8, \tfrac{h}{2}\right),$ and $R = \left(6, 0, \tfrac{h}{2}\right).$

Then $\overrightarrow{PQ} = \left(-6, 0, \tfrac{h}{2}\right)$ and $\overrightarrow{PR} = \left(0, -8, \tfrac{h}{2}\right),$ whose cross product is $(4h, 3h, 48).$ The area is $\begin{aligned} &\frac{1}{2}\sqrt{16h^2 + 9h^2 + 48^2} \\ &= \frac{1}{2}\sqrt{25h^2 + 2304} \\ &= 30, \end{aligned}$ so $25h^2 = 3600 - 2304 = 1296$ and $h = \frac{36}{5}.$

Therefore $m + n = 36 + 5 = 41.$

2013 AIME I Problem 7

Answer: 41

Difficulty rating: 2560

Solution:

Problem 7 in Other Years