2004 AIME I Problem 4

Below is the professionally curated solution for Problem 4 of the 2004 AIME I, from LIVE by Po-Shen Loh. You can also try the full timed exam, view all 2004 AIME I solutions, or check the answer key.

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Concepts:median (geometry)right trianglecircle area

Difficulty rating: 2270

4.

A square has sides of length 2.2. Set S\mathcal{S} is the set of all line segments that have length 22 and whose endpoints are on adjacent sides of the square. The midpoints of the line segments in set S\mathcal{S} enclose a region whose area to the nearest hundredth is k.k. Find 100k.100k.

Solution:

Let a segment PQ\overline{PQ} in S\mathcal{S} have endpoints on two sides meeting at corner A,A, and let MM be its midpoint. Triangle PAQPAQ is right-angled at AA with hypotenuse PQ=2,PQ = 2, and the median to the hypotenuse of a right triangle is half the hypotenuse, so AM=1.AM = 1. Conversely every point at distance 11 from a corner (between the two adjacent sides) is such a midpoint, so the midpoints form four quarter-circle arcs of radius 11 centered at the corners of the square.

The region these arcs enclose is the square with the four quarter-disks removed, of area 44π4=4π0.86.4 - 4 \cdot \frac{\pi}{4} = 4 - \pi \approx 0.86. Therefore 100k=86.100k = 86.

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