2023 AMC 10A Problem 17

Attempt Problem 17 of the 2023 AMC 10A 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 2023 AMC 10A solutions, or check the answer key.

All problems are used with official legal permission of the Mathematical Association of America (MAA).

17.

Let ABCDABCD be a rectangle with AB=30AB = 30 and BC=28.BC = 28. Points PP and QQ lie on BCBC and CDCD respectively so that all sides of △ABP,\triangle ABP, △PCQ,\triangle PCQ, and △QDA\triangle QDA have integer lengths. What is the perimeter of △APQ?\triangle APQ?
8484
8686
8888
9090
9292
Answer: A
Concepts:Pythagorean Triplerectanglesystematic listing
Small hint:
Each of the three triangles is right-angled at a corner, so AP2=302+BP2AP^2 = 30^2 + BP^2 and QA2=282+DQ2QA^2 = 28^2 + DQ^2 must be perfect squares
Big hint:
Use the triples 3030-1616-3434 and 2121-2828-35;35; then PQPQ comes out an integer too
Solution:
Set A=(0,0)A = (0,0), B=(30,0)B = (30,0), C=(30,28)C = (30,28), D=(0,28)D = (0,28), with P=(30,p)P = (30, p) on BCBC and Q=(30−q,28)Q = (30 - q, 28) on CDCD. The three right triangles give AP=302+p2AP = \sqrt{30^2 + p^2}, QA=282+(30−q)2QA = \sqrt{28^2 + (30 - q)^2}, and PQ=(28−p)2+q2PQ = \sqrt{(28 - p)^2 + q^2}. For 0≤p≤280 \leq p \leq 28, the equation (AP−p)(AP+p)=900(AP-p)(AP+p)=900 gives only p=0p=0 and p=16p=16, with AP=30AP=30 and AP=34AP=34. Similarly, setting x=30−qx=30-q, the equation (QA−x)(QA+x)=784(QA-x)(QA+x)=784 with 0≤x≤300 \leq x \leq 30 gives x=0x=0 or x=21x=21. Testing these four combinations in the formula for PQPQ, only p=16p=16, x=21x=21 works. Thus q=9q=9, QA=35QA=35, and PQ=122+92=15PQ=\sqrt{12^2+9^2}=15. The perimeter of △APQ\triangle APQ is 34+15+35=8434+15+35=84. Thus, A is the correct answer.
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