1986 AJHSME Problems/Problem 13

Problem

The perimeter of the polygon shown is

[asy] draw((0,0)--(0,6)--(8,6)--(8,3)--(2.7,3)--(2.7,0)--cycle); label("$6$",(0,3),W); label("$8$",(4,6),N); draw((0.5,0)--(0.5,0.5)--(0,0.5)); draw((0.5,6)--(0.5,5.5)--(0,5.5)); draw((7.5,6)--(7.5,5.5)--(8,5.5)); draw((7.5,3)--(7.5,3.5)--(8,3.5)); draw((2.2,0)--(2.2,0.5)--(2.7,0.5)); draw((2.7,2.5)--(3.2,2.5)--(3.2,3)); [/asy]

$\text{(A)}\ 14 \qquad \text{(B)}\ 20 \qquad \text{(C)}\ 28 \qquad \text{(D)}\ 48$

$\text{(E)}\ \text{cannot be determined from the information given}$

Solution

You might have not seen this coming but there is a very simple way to do this. If we try to make a rectangle out of this, we have to take out both of the lines that are taking out part of the rectangle we want to make. but now we see that to finish the rectangle, we have to use those same irregular lines!

[asy] unitsize(12); draw((0,0)--(0,6)--(8,6)--(8,3)--(2.7,3)--(2.7,0)--cycle); label("$6$",(0,3),W); label("$8$",(4,6),N); draw((8,3)--(8,0)--(2.7,0),dashed); [/asy]

So all we have to do is find the perimeter of the shape as if it would be a rectangle. After that, we get $\boxed{\text{(C) 28}}$.

See Also

1986 AJHSME (ProblemsAnswer KeyResources)
Preceded by
Problem 12
Followed by
Problem 14
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25
All AJHSME/AMC 8 Problems and Solutions

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