2008 AMC 12B Problem 25

Attempt Problem 25 of the 2008 AMC 12B 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 2008 AMC 12B solutions, or check the answer key.

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25.

Let ABCDABCD be a trapezoid with AB∥CD,AB \parallel CD, AB=11,AB = 11, BC=5,BC = 5, CD=19,CD = 19, and DA=7.DA = 7. Bisectors of ∠A\angle A and ∠D\angle D meet at P,P, and bisectors of ∠B\angle B and ∠C\angle C meet at Q.Q. What is the area of hexagon ABQCDP?ABQCDP?
28328\sqrt{3}
30330\sqrt{3}
32332\sqrt{3}
35335\sqrt{3}
36336\sqrt{3}
Answer: B
Concepts:trapezoidangle bisectorlaw of cosines
Small hint:
∠A+∠D=180∘,\angle A + \angle D = 180^\circ, so their bisectors meet at right angles, and the midpoint of AD‾\overline{AD} is equidistant from A,D,PA, D, P
Big hint:
This puts M,P,Q,NM, P, Q, N on the midline with PQ=AB+CD−AD−BC2;PQ = \tfrac{AB + CD - AD - BC}{2}; get the height from △ADE\triangle ADE (AE∥BC,AE \parallel BC, sides 7,5,87, 5, 8)
Solution:
Because AB∥CD,AB \parallel CD, ∠A+∠D=180∘,\angle A + \angle D = 180^\circ, so the bisectors of ∠A\angle A and ∠D\angle D meet at right angles, ∠APD=90∘.\angle APD = 90^\circ. Then the midpoint MM of AD‾\overline{AD} is the circumcenter of right triangle APD,APD, giving MP=MA=MD.MP = MA = MD. Thus ∠MPA=∠PAM=∠PAB,\angle MPA = \angle PAM = \angle PAB, where the last equality uses the angle bisector at A.A. Therefore MP∥AB.MP \parallel AB. The same argument gives QN∥ABQN \parallel AB for the midpoint NN of BC‾.\overline{BC}. Hence M,P,Q,NM, P, Q, N are collinear on the midline.
The midline has length AB+CD2=15,\tfrac{AB + CD}{2} = 15, while MP=AD2=72MP = \tfrac{AD}{2} = \tfrac72 and QN=BC2=52.QN = \tfrac{BC}{2} = \tfrac52. Hence PQ=15−72−52=9.PQ = 15 - \tfrac72 - \tfrac52 = 9.
Drawing AE∥BCAE \parallel BC with EE on CD‾\overline{CD} gives AE=5AE = 5 and DE=CD−AB=8.DE = CD - AB = 8. In △ADE,\triangle ADE, cos⁡(∠AED)=82+52−722⋅8⋅5=12,\cos(\angle AED) = \tfrac{8^2 + 5^2 - 7^2}{2 \cdot 8 \cdot 5} = \tfrac12, so ∠AED=60∘\angle AED = 60^\circ and the trapezoid’s height is AF=5sin⁡60∘=532.AF = 5\sin 60^\circ = \tfrac{5\sqrt3}{2}.
The segment PQPQ sits at half the height, so the hexagon splits into two trapezoids and [ABQCDP]=AF4(AB+CD+2 PQ)=5324(11+19+18)=303. \begin{aligned} &[ABQCDP] \\ &= \frac{AF}{4}\bigl(AB + CD + 2\,PQ\bigr) \\ &= \frac{\frac{5\sqrt3}{2}}{4}(11 + 19 + 18) \\ &= 30\sqrt3. \end{aligned}
Thus, the correct answer is B.
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