Question

Through a point on the hypotenuse of a right triangle, lines are drawn parallel to the legs of the triangle so that the triangle is divided into a square and two smaller right triangles. The area of one of the two small right triangles is $m$ times the area of the square. What is the ratio of the area of the other small right triangle to the area of the square?

$\dfrac{1}{2m + 1}$

$m$

$1 - m$

$\dfrac{1}{4m}$

$\dfrac{1}{8m^2}$

Solution:

Let the square have side $1.$ The small triangle sharing one side of the square has a perpendicular leg $r,$ so its area is $\tfrac12 \cdot 1 \cdot r = m,$ giving $r = 2m.$

The two small triangles are similar, so the other triangle's leg along the square is $\dfrac1r,$ and its area is $\frac12 \cdot 1 \cdot \frac1r = \frac{1}{2r} = \frac{1}{4m}.$

Thus, the correct answer is D.

2000 AMC 12 Problem 21

Solution:

Problem 21 in Other Years