1996 AIME Problems/Problem 13

Problem

In triangle $ABC$ , $AB=\sqrt{30}$ , $AC=\sqrt{6}$ , and $BC=\sqrt{15}$ . There is a point $D$ for which $\overline{AD}$ bisects $\overline{BC}$ , and $\angle ADB$ is a right angle. The ratio $\frac{[ADB]}{[ABC]}$ can be written in the form $\dfrac{m}{n}$ , where $m$ and $n$ are relatively prime positive integers. Find $m+n$ .

Let $E$ be the midpoint of $\overline{BC}$ . Since $BE = EC$ , then $\triangle ABE$ and $\triangle AEC$ share the same height and have equal bases, and thus have the same area. Similarly, $\triangle BDE$ and $BAE$ share the same height, and have bases in the ratio $DE : AE$ , so $\frac{[BDE]}{[BAE]} = \frac{DE}{AE}$ (see area ratios). Now,

$\dfrac{[ADB]}{[ABC]} = \frac{[ABE] + [BDE]}{2[ABE]} = \frac{1}{2} + \frac{DE}{2AE}.$

$\begin{align*}BD^2 + \left(DE + \frac {\sqrt{57}}2\right)^2 &= 30 \\BD^2 + DE^2 &= \frac{15}{4} \\\end{align*}$