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Geometry Level 4

A quadrilateral is inscribed in a circle of radius 200 2 200\sqrt{2} . Three of the sides of this quadrilateral have length 200. What is the length of the fourth side?


Source: 2016 AMC 12A Problems/Problem 21.


The answer is 500.

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5 solutions

AB, BC, CD are the sides given. So we want to find the length of the fourth side DA. O is the cercum center, and R its radius = 200 2 . 200\sqrt2. As normal we will investigate the half right angled triangles. M is the midpoint of BC, so MOB is such a triangle where 2 ϕ 2\phi is the angle the side BC makes at the center O.
S i n ϕ = 100 200 2 = 1 2 2 . , Total angle the three sides make at the center is DOA = 6 ϕ . \therefore ~\color{#3D99F6}{Sin\phi=\dfrac{100}{200*\sqrt2}=\dfrac 1{2*\sqrt2} }.\\ \implies,\text{Total angle the three sides make at the center is DOA = }6\phi.\\ This is also the angle DA makes at the center. i n Δ N O A , 1 2 D A = N A = O A S i n ( 3 ϕ ) B u t S i n ( 3 ϕ ) = 4 S i n 3 ϕ + 3 S i n ϕ = 1 4 2 + 3 2 2 = 5 4 2 D A = 2 N A = 2 200 2 S i n ( 3 ϕ ) = 500 \text{This is also the angle DA makes at the center.} ~~\therefore ~ ~in ~\Delta NOA, ~ \frac 1 2 DA=\color{#3D99F6}{NA=OASin(3\phi)}\\ But ~~Sin(3\phi)= - 4Sin^3\phi + 3 Sin\phi= - \dfrac 1 {4\sqrt2} +\dfrac 3 {2\sqrt2}=\dfrac 5 {4\sqrt 2}\\ \implies ~DA= 2*NA=2*200\sqrt2*Sin(3\phi)= \Large ~~\color{#D61F06}{\boxed { ~~500~~} }\\ ~~\\

An observation. ABCD is an isosceles trapezium.

Nice solution

Hana Wehbi - 3 years, 8 months ago
Aditya Kumar
Feb 23, 2016

Hope my handwriting is legible Hope my handwriting is legible

Consider Δ A B C \Delta ABC . As we know two of its sides and the circumradius, we can find A C = 100 14 AC=100\sqrt{14} . Similarly, B D = 100 14 BD=100\sqrt{14} . Now, using Ptolemy's theorem, A D = 500 AD=500 .

Without all these zero's

Pedro Cardoso
Oct 31, 2017

It is very easy to see, from the relation between inscribed and central angles in a circumference, that A D ^ C = C O ^ D \angle A\hat { D } C=\angle C\hat { O } D . This means the triangles O C D \triangle OCD and D C C \triangle DC'C are similar. Furthermore, since O C = O D \overline{OC}=\overline{OD} , both of them are isosceles, which gives us: D C = D C = 200 \overline { DC' } =\overline { DC }=200 The similarity also implies that C D C C = O C C D \frac { \overline { CD } }{ \overline { CC' } } =\frac { \overline { OC } }{ \overline { CD } } Substituting what we found, this gives us C C = 100 2 \overline { CC' } =100\sqrt { 2 } which means C C' is the midpoint O C \overline{OC} This gives us B C = B C 2 = 100 \overline { B'C' } =\frac { \overline { BC } }{ 2 } =100 Finally, since A B = D C \overline{AB'=DC'} (from symmetry), we have A D = A B + B C + C D = 200 + 100 + 200 = 500 \overline{AD}=\overline{AB'}+\overline{B'C'}+\overline{C'D}=200+100+200=500

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