Which portion has the largest area?

Geometry Level 2

The segments are parallel and divide the triangle into three portions. Which area is the largest?

Yellow Red All areas are the same. Blue

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4 solutions

David Vreken
Mar 21, 2019

Divide the left and right sides of the yellow region into 3 3 congruent parts, the left and right sides of the blue region into 2 2 congruent parts, and draw parallel lines through these points to make congruent triangles, as follows:

The yellow region has 9 9 triangles, the blue region has 16 16 triangles, and the red region has 11 11 triangles, so the blue region has the largest area.

Chew-Seong Cheong
Mar 22, 2019

Note that A B 1 C 1 \triangle AB_1C_1 , A B 2 C 2 \triangle AB_2C_2 , and A B 3 C 3 \triangle AB_3C_3 are similar triangles. Therefore, their areas are directly proportional to the square of their respective linear dimensions. Let the area of A B 1 C 1 \triangle AB_1C_1 be 3 2 A = 9 A 3^2 A = 9A . Then:

{ [ A B 1 C 1 ] = A orange = 9 A [ A B 2 C 2 ] = A orange + A blue = 25 A [ A B 2 C 2 ] [ A B 1 C 1 ] = A blue = 16 A [ A B 3 C 3 ] = A orange + A blue + A red = 36 A [ A B 3 C 3 ] [ A B 2 C 2 ] = A red = 11 A \begin{cases} [AB_1C_1] & = A_{\color{#EC7300}\text{orange}} = 9 A \\ [AB_2C_2] & = A_{\color{#EC7300}\text{orange}} + A_{\color{#3D99F6}\text{blue}} = 25 A & \implies [AB_2C_2]-[AB_1C_1] = A_{\color{#3D99F6}\text{blue}} = 16 A \\ [AB_3C_3] & = A_{\color{#EC7300}\text{orange}} + A_{\color{#3D99F6}\text{blue}} + A_{\color{#D61F06}\text{red}} = 36 A & \implies [AB_3C_3]-[AB_2C_2] = A_{\color{#D61F06}\text{red}} = 11 A \end{cases}

Blue portion, therefore has the largest area.

How to color text?

Mr. India - 2 years, 2 months ago

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{\color{blue}A}+{\color{red}B} + \color{green} C A + B + C {\color{#3D99F6}A}+{\color{#D61F06}B} + \color{#20A900} C

Chew-Seong Cheong - 2 years, 2 months ago

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T h a n k + y o u ! {\color{#EC7300} Thank} {\color{#FFFFFF} +} {\color{#20A900} you!}

Mr. India - 2 years, 2 months ago

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@Mr. India You don't need \color{white}. Just do \color{orange} Thank \ \color{green} you! T h a n k y o u ! \color{#FFFFFF} \color{#EC7300} Thank \ \color{#20A900} you! . Backslash followed by a space or comma is a space "\ " or "\,". If it is a long sentence, it is better to use \text{How are you?} How are you? \text{How are you?} (Note that it is not in italic). I was using A_{\color{orange}\text{orange}} A orange A_{\color{#EC7300}\text{orange}} . I don't like italic.

Chew-Seong Cheong - 2 years, 2 months ago

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@Chew-Seong Cheong Thank you again! {\color{#EC7300}\text{Thank}}\ {\color{#3D99F6}\text{you}}\ {\color{#20A900}\text{again!}}

Mr. India - 2 years, 2 months ago
Mr. India
Mar 21, 2019

Let a r e a w h o l e = m area_{whole}=m

a r e a o r a n g e = m 4 = 9 m 36 area_{orange}=\frac{m}{4}=\frac{9m}{36}

a r e a b l u e + o r a n g e = 25 m 36 area_{blue+orange}=\frac{25m}{36}

So, a r e a b l u e = 16 m 36 area_{blue}=\frac{16m}{36}

So, a r e a r e d = a r e a w h o l e a r e a b l u e a r e a o r a n g e = 11 m 36 area_{red}=area_{whole}-area_{blue}-area_{orange}=\frac{11m}{36}

So, A r e a b l u e > A r e a r e d > A r e a o r a n g e Area_{blue}>Area_{red}>Area_{orange}

Related proof : Areas of similar triangles

Ritabrata Roy
Mar 22, 2019

The ratio of area of similar triangles is equal to the ratio of square of their corresponding sides.

   O=area of Orange
   B= area of Blue
   R=area of Red  

 1).  (3/5)^2=O/(O+B)

 2).  (O+B)/(O+B+R)=(5/6)^2

Solving ,we get B:O:R=16:9:11

Clearly. Blue has the largest area.

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