Lopsided trapezium

Geometry Level pending

The lateral sides of a trapezium have length equal to 30 30 and 50. 50. A circle can be inscribed in the trapezium, tangent to all its sides. The line connecting the midpoints of the lateral sides divides the area of the trapezium in the ratio 5 : 11. 5:11. Find the product of the lengths of the bases of the trapezium.

Details and assumptions

A trapezium has a pair of parallel sides.


The answer is 700.

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1 solution

Calvin Lin Staff
May 13, 2014

Suppose the shorter base has length a , a, and the longer base has length b . b. The segment connecting the midpoints of the sides has length a + b 2 . \frac{a+b}{2}. Because the ratio of the two trapezium is 5 11 , \frac{5}{11}, and they have the same height, a + a + b 2 a + b 2 + b = 5 11 \frac{a+\frac{a+b}{2}}{\frac{a+b}{2}+b}=\frac{5}{11} After simplification, this gives b = 7 a . b=7a.

Because the trapezium is circumscribed, the sums of the lengths of the opposing sides are equal (this follows from the fact that the distances from any vertex to the points where the inscribed circle touches its adjacent sides are equal).

Therefore, a + b = 30 + 50 , a+b=30+50, thus 8 a = 80. 8a=80. So a = 10 a=10 and b = 70 , b=70, thus a b = 700. ab=700.

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