1978 AMC 12 Problem 29

Attempt Problem 29 of the 1978 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 1978 AMC 12 solutions, or check the answer key.

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29.

Sides AB,AB, BC,BC, CD,CD, and DA,DA, respectively, of convex quadrilateral ABCDABCD are extended past B,B, C,C, D,D, and AA to points B,B', C,C', D,D', and A.A'. Also, AB=BB=6,AB=BB'=6, BC=CC=7,BC=CC'=7, CD=DD=8,CD=DD'=8, and DA=AA=9;DA=AA'=9; and the area of ABCDABCD is 10.10. The area of ABCDA'B'C'D' is

2020

4040

4545

5050

6060

Answer: D
Concepts:vectorarea decomposition
Difficulty rating: 2040
Small Hint:

In vector notation, A=2AD,A'=2A-D, B=2BA,B'=2B-A, and similarly for the other two vertices

Big Hint:

Substitute these expressions into the cross-product area formula for a polygon

Solution:

Using position vectors, the equal extensions give A=2AD,B=2BA,C=2CB,D=2DC. \begin{aligned} A'&=2A-D,& B'&=2B-A,\\ C'&=2C-B,& D'&=2D-C. \end{aligned} Substitution into the oriented polygon-area sum shows that the diagonal cross terms cancel: A×B+B×C+C×D+D×A=5A×B+5B×C+5C×D+5D×A. \begin{aligned} &A'\mathbin{\times}B' +B'\mathbin{\times}C'\\ &\quad+C'\mathbin{\times}D' +D'\mathbin{\times}A'\\ &=5A\mathbin{\times}B +5B\mathbin{\times}C\\ &\quad+5C\mathbin{\times}D +5D\mathbin{\times}A. \end{aligned} Hence the outer area is five times the original area, or 510=50.5\cdot10=50.

Therefore, the correct answer is D.

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