Question

Three unit squares and two line segments connecting two pairs of vertices are shown. What is the area of $\triangle ABC?$

$\dfrac16$

$\dfrac15$

$\dfrac29$

$\dfrac13$

$\dfrac{\sqrt{2}}{4}$

Solution:

We can use coordinate geometry to figure out where the intersection of the two lines occurs.

Let $A$ be the origin and $B = (1, 0).$ Then the slope of the line through $A$ is $-\dfrac{1}{2},$ which makes the equation of the line $y = -\dfrac{1}{2}x.$ The slope of the line through $B$ is $2.$ The $y$ -intercept is $-2.$ This makes the equation of this line $y = 2x - 2.$

Equating the equations, we get $2x - 2 = -\dfrac{1}{2}x$ $x = \dfrac{4}{5}.$

This makes the $y$ -coordinate of $C$ $-\dfrac{1}{2} \cdot \dfrac{4}{5} = -\dfrac{2}{5}.$

The area of triangle $ABC$ is then $\dfrac{1}{2} \cdot 1 \cdot \dfrac{2}{5} = \dfrac{1}{5}.$

Thus, B is the correct answer.

2012 AMC 10A Problem 15

Solution:

Problem 15 in Other Years