AoPSWiki
Looking for a challenging geometry text? Preparing for MATHCOUNTS or the AMC exams? Check out Art of Problem Solving's Introduction to Geometry by Richard Rusczyk.

2002 AIME I Problems/Problem 2

From AoPSWiki

Problem

The diagram shows twenty congruent circles arranged in three rows and enclosed in a rectangle. The circles are tangent to one another and to the sides of the rectangle as shown in the diagram. The ratio of the longer dimension of the rectangle to the shorter dimension can be written as \dfrac{1}{2}(\sqrt{p}-q) where p and q are positive integers. Find p+q.

Image:AIME_2002I_Problem_02.png

Solution

Let the radius of the circles be r. The longer dimension of the rectangle can be written as 14r, and by the Pythagorean Theorem, we find that the shorter dimension is 2r\left(\sqrt{3}+1\right).

Therefore, \frac{14r}{2r\left(\sqrt{3}+1\right)}= \frac{7}{\sqrt{3} + 1} \cdot \left[\frac{\sqrt{3}-1}{\sqrt{3}-1}\right] = \frac{1}{2}\.... Thus we have p=147 and q=7, so p+q=\boxed{154}.

See also

2002 AIME I (ProblemsResources)
Preceded by
Problem 1
Followed by
Problem 3
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.
© Copyright 2008 AoPS Incorporated. All Rights Reserved. • FoundationPrivacyContact Us