2001 AIME II Problems/Problem 15
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Problem
Let
,
, and
be three adjacent square faces of a cube, for which
, and let
be the eighth vertex of the cube. Let
,
, and
, be the points on
,
, and
, respectively, so that
. A solid
is obtained by drilling a tunnel through the cube. The sides of the tunnel are planes parallel to
, and containing the edges,
,
, and
. The surface area of
, including the walls of the tunnel, is
, where
,
, and
are positive integers and
is not divisible by the square of any prime. Find
.
Solution

Set the coordinate system so that vertex
, where the drilling starts, is at
. Using a little visualization (involving some similar triangles, because we have parallel lines) shows that the tunnel meets the bottom face (the xy plane one) in the line segments joining
to
, and
to
, and similarly for the other three faces meeting at the origin (by symmetry). So one face of the tunnel is the polygon with vertices (in that order),
, and the other two faces of the tunnel are congruent to this shape.
Observe that this shape is made up of two congruent trapezoids each with height
and bases
and
. Together they make up an area of
. The total area of the tunnel is then
. Around the corners
and the one opposite
we're missing an area of
. So the outside area is
. Thus the the total surface area is
, and the answer is
.
See also
| 2001 AIME II (Problems • Resources) | ||
| Preceded by Problem 14 | Followed by Last Question | |
| 1 • 2 • 3 • 4 • 5 • 6 • 7 • 8 • 9 • 10 • 11 • 12 • 13 • 14 • 15 | ||
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