1956 AMC 12 Problem 50
Attempt Problem 50 of the 1956 AMC 12 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 1956 AMC 12 solutions, or check the answer key.
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50.
In triangle On square is constructed away from the triangle. If is the number of degrees in angle then
depends upon triangle
is independent of the triangle
may equal angle
can never equal angle
is greater than but less than
Answer: B
Small Hint:
Scale to and place
Big Hint:
Because the square is outside the triangle, take and compare vectors and
Solution:
Scale the equal sides to and place Since square is constructed away from the triangle, Put and Then Their dot product is while the absolute value of their two-dimensional cross product is also Therefore so independent of and hence independent of the triangle’s shape.
Thus, the correct answer is B.