2012 AMC 8 Problem 23

Attempt Problem 23 of the 2012 AMC 8 below, then check your answer against the video solution and professionally curated solution from LIVE by Po-Shen Loh. You can also try the full timed exam, view all 2012 AMC 8 solutions, or check the answer key.

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

23.

An equilateral triangle and a regular hexagon have equal perimeters. If the triangle’s area is 44, what is the area of the hexagon?
4 4
5 5
6 6
43 4\sqrt3
63 6\sqrt3
Answer: C
Concepts:equilateral triangleregular polygonarea ratio
Small hint:
Equal perimeters make the hexagon side half the triangle side.
Big hint:
A regular hexagon is made from six congruent equilateral triangles.
Video solution:
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Written solution:
Let the side length of the triangle be s.s. This means the perimeter is 3s.3s. Therefore, the side length for the hexagon is 3s6=s2. \frac{3s}{6} = \frac s2.
A hexagon can be made of 66 equilateral triangles with side length s2 \dfrac{s}{2} as shown above. Each triangle is the original triangle scaled down by 12,\dfrac{1}{2}, so the area is scaled down by (12)2=14. (\dfrac{1}{2})^2 = \dfrac{1}{4} . Therefore, the area of each of these triangles is 4⋅14=1.4 \cdot \dfrac{1}{4} = 1. Since there are 66 of them, the area is 6⋅1=6.6\cdot 1 = 6.
Thus, the answer is C .
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