2018 AMC 8 Problem 20

Attempt Problem 20 of the 2018 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 2018 AMC 8 solutions, or check the answer key.

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

20.

In ABC,\triangle ABC, a point EE is on AB\overline{AB} with AE=1AE=1 and EB=2.EB=2. Point DD is on AC\overline{AC} so that DEBC\overline{DE} \parallel \overline{BC} and point FF is on BC\overline{BC} so that EFAC.\overline{EF} \parallel \overline{AC}. What is the ratio of the area of CDEFCDEF to the area of ABC?\triangle ABC?

49 \dfrac{4}{9}

12 \dfrac{1}{2}

59 \dfrac{5}{9}

35 \dfrac{3}{5}

23 \dfrac{2}{3}

Answer: A
Concepts:similarityarea ratio
Difficulty rating: 1340
Video solution:
Solution video thumbnail
Play video

Click to load, then click again to play

Written solution:

Let the area of ABC\triangle ABC be equal to t.t. Since DEBCDE \parallel BC and FECA,FE \parallel CA , we can deduce that ADEABCADE \sim ABC and EFBABC.EFB \sim ABC. Since AE=AB3,AE = \dfrac{AB}3, the area of ADEADE is equal to (13)2t=t9.\left(\dfrac13\right)^2 t = \dfrac{t}{9} . Since EB=2AB3,EB = \dfrac{2AB}3, the area of EFBEFB is equal to (23)2t=49t.\left(\dfrac23\right)^2 t = \dfrac{4}{9}t . Finally, to find the area of CDEF,CDEF, we take the area of ABC=tABC =t and subtract the areas of ADEADE and EFB.EFB. This is equivalent to the expression tt94t9=4t9.t- \frac{t}{9} - \frac{4t}{9} = \frac{4t}{9} . Therefore, the ratio of the area of CDEFCDEF and ABCABC is (4t9)t=49.\dfrac{\left(\dfrac{4t}{9}\right)}{t} = \dfrac{4}{9} .

Thus, A is the correct answer.

← Problem 19#19
Full Exam

Problem 20 in Other Years

1985 AMC 8 · 1986 AMC 8 · 1987 AMC 8 · 1988 AMC 8 · 1989 AMC 8 · 1990 AMC 8 · 1991 AMC 8 · 1992 AMC 8 · 1993 AMC 8 · 1994 AMC 8 · 1995 AMC 8 · 1996 AMC 8 · 1997 AMC 8 · 1998 AMC 8 · 1999 AMC 8 · 2000 AMC 8 · 2001 AMC 8 · 2002 AMC 8 · 2003 AMC 8 · 2004 AMC 8 · 2005 AMC 8 · 2006 AMC 8 · 2007 AMC 8 · 2008 AMC 8 · 2009 AMC 8 · 2010 AMC 8 · 2011 AMC 8 · 2012 AMC 8 · 2013 AMC 8 · 2014 AMC 8 · 2015 AMC 8 · 2016 AMC 8 · 2017 AMC 8 · 2019 AMC 8 · 2020 AMC 8 · 2022 AMC 8 · 2023 AMC 8 · 2024 AMC 8 · 2025 AMC 8 · 2026 AMC 8