2000 AMC 8 Problem 25

Below is the professionally curated solution for Problem 25 of the 2000 AMC 8, from LIVE by Po-Shen Loh. You can also try the full timed exam, view all 2000 AMC 8 solutions, or check the answer key.

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Concepts:area decompositiontriangle area

Difficulty rating: 1520

25.

The area of rectangle ABCDABCD is 7272 units squared. If point AA and the midpoints of BC\overline{BC} and CD\overline{CD} are joined to form a triangle, the area of that triangle is

2121

2727

3030

3636

4040

Solution:

Let the rectangle have side lengths 2a2a and 2b2b, so its area is 4ab=724ab=72 and ab=18ab=18.

The three right triangles outside the desired triangle have areas 12(2a)(b)=ab\frac12(2a)(b)=ab, 12(2b)(a)=ab\frac12(2b)(a)=ab, and 12(a)(b)=12ab\frac12(a)(b)=\frac12ab.

Their total area is 52ab=45\frac52ab=45. Therefore the desired triangle has area 7245=2772-45=27.

Thus, B is the correct answer.

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