2000 AIME II Problem 6

Below is the professionally curated solution for Problem 6 of the 2000 AIME II, from LIVE by Po-Shen Loh. You can also try the full timed exam, view all 2000 AIME II solutions, or check the answer key.

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Concepts:trapezoidsimilarityarea ratio

Difficulty rating: 2450

6.

One base of a trapezoid is 100100 units longer than the other base. The segment that joins the midpoints of the legs divides the trapezoid into two regions whose areas are in the ratio 2:3.2 : 3. Let xx be the length of the segment joining the legs of the trapezoid that is parallel to the bases and that divides the trapezoid into two regions of equal area. Find the greatest integer that does not exceed x2/100.x^2/100.

Solution:

Let the bases be bb and b+100.b + 100. The midsegment has length b+50b + 50 and splits the trapezoid into two trapezoids of equal height, whose areas are proportional to the sums of their parallel sides, b+(b+50)b + (b + 50) and (b+50)+(b+100).(b + 50) + (b + 100). Setting 2b+502b+150=23\frac{2b + 50}{2b + 150} = \frac{2}{3} gives b=75,b = 75, so the bases are 7575 and 175.175.

Extend the legs to meet at an apex, creating similar triangles: a segment parallel to the bases with length \ell cuts off a triangle of area c2c\ell^2 for a fixed constant c.c. The segment of length xx bisects the trapezoid's area exactly when cx2c752=c1752cx2,cx^2 - c \cdot 75^2 = c \cdot 175^2 - cx^2, so x2=752+17522=18125.x^2 = \frac{75^2 + 175^2}{2} = 18125.

Then x2/100=181.25,x^2/100 = 181.25, and the greatest integer not exceeding it is 181.181.

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