Weird Figure

Geometry Level 3

In the above figure A B C D ABCD is a rectangle. X X is any point on segment A D AD . Point A A' is the reflection of point A A on B X BX . Then find the ratio of the area of red region to the area of blue region. Give your answer to correct two decimal places.


The answer is 1.00.

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1 solution

Nihar Mahajan
Apr 24, 2016

Using A B = C D AB=CD and A D = A X + D X AD=AX+DX , we note that:

[ A B X ] + [ D C X ] = 1 2 A B A X + 1 2 C D D X = A B 2 ( A X + D X ) = A B A D 2 = [ A B C D ] 2 [ABX]+[DCX]=\dfrac{1}{2}\cdot AB \cdot AX+ \dfrac{1}{2}\cdot CD \cdot DX= \dfrac{AB}{2}(AX+DX)=\dfrac{AB\cdot AD}{2} = \dfrac{[ABCD]}{2}

[ A B C D ] = 2 ( [ A B X ] + [ D C X ] ) [ A B X ] + [ D C X ] + [ B X C ] = 2 ( [ A B X ] + [ D C X ] ) [ B X C ] = [ A B X ] + [ D C X ] [ B A X ] + red region = [ A B X ] + [ D C X ] \Rightarrow [ABCD]= 2([ABX]+[DCX]) \\ \Rightarrow [ABX]+[DCX]+[BXC] = 2([ABX]+[DCX]) \\ \Rightarrow [BXC] = [ABX]+[DCX] \\ \Rightarrow [BA'X]+\text{red region} = [ABX]+[DCX]

Since A A' is reflection of A A in B X BX we easily have Δ B A X Δ B A X [ B A X ] = [ B A X ] \Delta BAX \cong \Delta BA'X \Rightarrow [BAX]=[BA'X] and using this fact from the above equation we have:

[ B A X ] + red region = [ A B X ] + [ D C X ] red region = [ D C X ] = blue region [BAX]+\text{red region} = [ABX]+[DCX] \\ \Rightarrow \text{red region} =[DCX] = \text{blue region}

Since they are equal, their ratio is simply 1 \boxed{1} .

  • [ A B C ] [ABC] denotes area of triangle A B C ABC .

Moderator note:

Good observation about the regions.

The proof of B X C = A B X + D C X BXC = ABX + DCX could be shown more intuitively by drawing the perpendicular from X X to B C BC and noting that it divides the rectangle into two pairs of congruent triangles, which is how I first learnt that Δ = 1 2 b h \Delta = \dfrac{1}{2}bh . Interesting question!

Raj Magesh - 5 years, 1 month ago

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Glad you liked it :)

Nihar Mahajan - 5 years, 1 month ago

I solved this by taking the limiting case X A X \to A . The white area approaches zero; the line CX approaches the diagonal CA, dividing the rectangle into two congruent triangles ABC and ADC.

Pranshu Gaba - 5 years, 1 month ago

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That is a good method for quick solving.

Nihar Mahajan - 5 years, 1 month ago

Hey it came out very nicely in the end 1.0000 \color{#D61F06}{\boxed{1.0000}} . I went with coordinates as reflection is simpler there. Anyway great problem

Vignesh S - 5 years, 1 month ago

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Thanks! :)

Nihar Mahajan - 5 years, 1 month ago

When I find the answer 1 1 , at first I'm not sure if I'm correct since you ask to give answer correct to 2 decimal places!

Tran Quoc Dat - 5 years, 1 month ago

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I intentionally put it so that the answer cannot be guessed easily.

Nihar Mahajan - 5 years, 1 month ago

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