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1996 AIME Problems/Problem 15

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Problem

In parallelogram ABCD, let O be the intersection of diagonals \overline{AC} and \overline{BD}. Angles CAB and DBC are each twice as large as angle DBA, and angle ACB is r times as large as angle AOB. Find the greatest integer that does not exceed 1000r.

Contents

Solution

Solution 1 (trignometry)

size(180); pathpen = black+linewidth(0.7);pair B=(0,0), A=expi(pi/4), C=IP(A--A + 2*expi(17*pi/12), B--(3,0)), D=A+C, O=IP(A-...

Let \theta = \angle DBA. Then \angle CAB = \angle DBC = 2\theta, \angle AOB = 180 - 3\theta, and \angle ACB = 180 - 5\theta. Since ABCD is a parallelogram, it follows that OA = OC. By the Law of Sines on \triangle ABO,\, \triangle BCO,

\frac{\sin \angle CBO}{OC} = \frac{\sin \angle ACB}{OB} \quad \text{and} \quad \frac{\sin \angle DBA}{OC} = \frac{\sin \angle...

Dividing the two equalities yields

\frac{\sin 2\theta}{\sin \theta} = \frac{\sin (180 - 5\theta)}{\sin 2\theta} \Longrightarrow \sin^2 2\theta = \sin 5\theta \s...

Pythagorean and product-to-sum identities yield

1 - \cos^2 2 \theta = \cos 4\theta - \cos 6 \theta,

and the double and triple angle (\cos 3x = 4\cos^3 x - 3\cos x) formulas further simplify this to

4\cos^3 2\theta - 4\cos^2 2\theta - 3\cos \theta + 3 = (4\cos^2 2\theta - 3)(\cos 2\theta - 1) = 0

The only value of \theta that fits in this context comes from 4 \cos^2 2\theta - 3 = 0 \Longrightarrow \cos 2\theta = \frac{\sqrt{3}}{2} \Longrightarrow \theta = 15^{\circ}. The answer is \lfloor 1000r \rfloor = \left\lfloor 1000 \cdot \frac{180 - 5\theta}{180 - 3\theta} \right\rfloor = \left \lfloor \frac{7000}....

Solution 2 (trignometry)

Define \theta as above. Since \angle CAB = \angle CBO, it follows that \triangle COB \sim \triangle CBA, and so \frac{CO}{BC} = \frac{BC}{AC} \Longrightarrow BC^2 = AC \cdot CO = 2CO^2 \Longrightarrow BC = CO\sqrt{2}. The Law of Sines on \triangle BOC yields that

\frac{BC}{CO} = \frac{\sin (180-3\theta)}{\sin 2\theta} = \frac{\sin 3\theta}{\sin 2\theta} = \sqrt{2}

Expanding using the sine double and triple angle formulas, we have

2\sqrt {2} \sin \theta \cos \theta = \sin\theta( - 4\sin ^2 \theta + 3) \Longrightarrow \sin \left\theta (4\cos^2\theta - 2\s...

By the quadratic formula, we have \cos \theta = \frac {2\sqrt {2} \pm \sqrt {8 + 4 \cdot 1 \cdot 4}}{8} = \frac {\sqrt {6} \pm \sqrt {2}}{4}, so \theta = 15^{\circ} (as the other roots are too large to make sense in context). The answer follows as above.

Solution 3

We will focus on \triangle ABC. Let \angle ABO = x, so \angle BAO = \angle OBC = 2x. Draw the perpendicular from C intersecting AB at H. Without loss of generality, let AO = CO = 1. Then HO = 1, since O is the circumcenter of \triangle AHC. Then \angle OHA = 2x.

By the Exterior Angle Theorem, \angle COB = 3x and \angle COH = 4x. That implies that \angle HOB = x. That makes HO = HB = 1. Then since by AA (\angle HBC = \angle HOC = 3x and reflexive on \angle OCB), \triangle OCB \sim \triangle BCA.

\frac {CO}{BC} = \frac {BC}{AC} \implies 2 = BC^2 = \implies BC = \sqrt {2}.

Then by the Pythagorean Theorem, 1^2 + HC^2 = \left(\sqrt {2}\right)^2\implies HC = 1. That makes \triangle HOC equilateral. Then \angle HOC = 4x = 60 \implies x = 15. The answer follows as above.

See also

1996 AIME (ProblemsResources)
Preceded by
Problem 14
Followed by
Final Problem
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15
Looking for a challenging algebra text? Preparing for MATHCOUNTS or the AMC exams?
Check out Art of Problem Solving's Introduction to Algebra by Richard Rusczyk.
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