2022 AIME II Problem 3

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3.

A right square pyramid with volume 5454 has a base with side length 6.6. The five vertices of the pyramid all lie on a sphere with radius mn,\frac{m}{n}, where mm and nn are relatively prime positive integers. Find m+n.m + n.

Answer: 21
Concepts:pyramidspherevolume
Difficulty rating: 2110
Solution:

The base has area 36,36, so 1336h=54\frac{1}{3} \cdot 36 \cdot h = 54 gives height h=92.h = \frac{9}{2}. By symmetry the sphere's center lies on the pyramid's axis, say at height zz above the base. Each base vertex is at distance 323\sqrt{2} from the axis, so the center's distance to a base vertex is z2+18,\sqrt{z^2 + 18}, while its distance to the apex is 92z.\frac{9}{2} - z.

Setting (92z)2=z2+18\left(\frac{9}{2} - z\right)^2 = z^2 + 18 gives 8149z=18,\frac{81}{4} - 9z = 18, so z=14.z = \frac{1}{4}. The radius is 9214=174,\frac{9}{2} - \frac{1}{4} = \frac{17}{4}, and m+n=17+4=21.m + n = 17 + 4 = 21.

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