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 ABC,ABC, CA=CB.CA=CB. On CBCB square BCDEBCDE is constructed away from the triangle. If xx is the number of degrees in angle DAB,DAB, then

xx depends upon triangle ABCABC

xx is independent of the triangle

xx may equal angle CADCAD

xx can never equal angle CABCAB

xx is greater than 4545^\circ but less than 9090^\circ

Answer: B
Concepts:isosceles trianglesquare constructioncoordinate geometry
Difficulty rating: 2070
Small Hint:

Scale CA=CBCA=CB to 1,1, and place C=(0,0),C=(0,0), B=(1,0),B=(1,0), A=(cosθ,sinθ)A=(\cos\theta,\sin\theta)

Big Hint:

Because the square is outside the triangle, take D=(0,1)D=(0,-1) and compare vectors AB\overrightarrow{AB} and AD\overrightarrow{AD}

Solution:

Scale the equal sides to 11 and place C=(0,0),B=(1,0),A=(cosθ,sinθ). \begin{aligned} C&=(0,0),\qquad B=(1,0),\\ A&=(\cos\theta,\sin\theta). \end{aligned} Since square BCDEBCDE is constructed away from the triangle, D=(0,1).D=(0,-1). Put c=cosθc=\cos\theta and s=sinθ.s=\sin\theta. Then AB=(1c,s),AD=(c,1s). \begin{aligned} \overrightarrow{AB}&=(1-c,-s),\\ \overrightarrow{AD}&=(-c,-1-s). \end{aligned} Their dot product is 1+sc,1+s-c, while the absolute value of their two-dimensional cross product is also 1+sc.1+s-c. Therefore tanDAB=1, \tan\angle DAB=1, so DAB=45,\angle DAB=45^\circ, independent of θ\theta and hence independent of the triangle’s shape.

Thus, the correct answer is B.

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Problem 50 in Other Years

1950 AMC 12 · 1951 AMC 12 · 1952 AMC 12 · 1953 AMC 12 · 1954 AMC 12 · 1955 AMC 12 · 1957 AMC 12 · 1958 AMC 12 · 1959 AMC 12