2017 AIME I Problem 6

Attempt Problem 6 of the 2017 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 2017 AIME I solutions, or check the answer key.

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6.

A circle is circumscribed around an isosceles triangle whose two congruent angles have degree measure x.x. Two points are chosen independently and uniformly at random on the circle, and a chord is drawn between them. The probability that the chord intersects the triangle is 1425.\frac{14}{25}. Find the difference between the largest and smallest possible values of x.x.

Answer: 48
Concepts:geometric probabilityinscribed anglequadratic
Difficulty rating: 2650
Solution:

Each inscribed angle of the triangle subtends an arc of twice its measure, so the vertices split the circle into arcs of 2x,2x, 2x,2x, and 3604x360 - 4x degrees. The chord fails to intersect the triangle exactly when both random points fall in the same arc, which has probability (2x360)2+(2x360)2+(3604x360)2=11425=1125. \begin{aligned} &\left(\frac{2x}{360}\right)^2 + \left(\frac{2x}{360}\right)^2 \\ &\quad {}+ \left(\frac{360 - 4x}{360}\right)^2 \\ &= 1 - \frac{14}{25} = \frac{11}{25}. \end{aligned}

Setting y=x180,y = \frac{x}{180}, this reads 2y2+(12y)2=1125,2y^2 + (1 - 2y)^2 = \frac{11}{25}, which simplifies to 75y250y+7=0,75y^2 - 50y + 7 = 0, with roots y=15y = \frac{1}{5} and y=715.y = \frac{7}{15}. These give x=36x = 36 and x=84,x = 84, both legitimate base angles of an isosceles triangle.

The requested difference is 8436=48.84 - 36 = 48.

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