2019 AMC 8 Problem 21

Attempt Problem 21 of the 2019 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 2019 AMC 8 solutions, or check the answer key.

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21.

What is the area of the triangle formed by the lines y=5,y = 5, y=1+x,y = 1 + x, and y=1−x?y = 1 - x?
44
88
1010
1212
1616
Answer: E
Concepts:coordinate geometrytriangle areasystem of equations
Small hint:
Find the three pairwise intersections
Big hint:
Use the horizontal side on y=5y = 5 as the base
Video solution:
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Written solution:
First, let us find the vertices of the triangle. The intersections between y=5y = 5 and the other two lines are (4,5)(4, 5) and (−4,5)(-4, 5).
To find the third intersection, we can equate the two equations to get 1+x=1−x⇒x=0. 1 + x = 1 - x \Rightarrow x = 0.
This gives us the point (0,1).(0, 1).
Note that the first two intersection points are mirrored across the yy-axis. This tells us that the triangle is isosceles.
The base is therefore 2⋅4=8,2 \cdot 4 = 8, and the height is 5−1=4.5 - 1 = 4. The area of the triangle is therefore 12⋅8⋅4=16. \dfrac{1}{2} \cdot 8 \cdot 4 = 16.
Thus, the correct answer is E.
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