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2018 AMC 8 Problems/Problem 24

Revision as of 13:58, 15 July 2019 by Olivera (talk | contribs) (→‎Note)

Problem 24

In the cube $ABCDEFGH$ with opposite vertices $C$ and $E,$ $J$ and $I$ are the midpoints of vertices $\overline{FB}$ and $\overline{HD},$ respectively. Let $R$ be the ratio of the area of the cross-section $EJCI$ to the area of one of the faces of the cube. What is $R^2?$

[asy] size(6cm); pair A,B,C,D,EE,F,G,H,I,J; C = (0,0); B = (-1,1); D = (2,0.5); A = B+D; G = (0,2); F = B+G; H = G+D; EE = G+B+D; I = (D+H)/2; J = (B+F)/2; filldraw(C--I--EE--J--cycle,lightgray,black); draw(C--D--H--EE--F--B--cycle); draw(G--F--G--C--G--H); draw(A--B,dashed); draw(A--EE,dashed); draw(A--D,dashed); dot(A); dot(B); dot(C); dot(D); dot(EE); dot(F); dot(G); dot(H); dot(I); dot(J); label("$A$",A,E); label("$B$",B,W); label("$C$",C,S); label("$D$",D,E); label("$E$",EE,N); label("$F$",F,W); label("$G$",G,N); label("$H$",H,E); label("$I$",I,E); label("$J$",J,W); [/asy]

$\textbf{(A) } \frac{5}{4} \qquad \textbf{(B) } \frac{4}{3} \qquad \textbf{(C) } \frac{3}{2} \qquad \textbf{(D) } \frac{25}{16} \qquad \textbf{(E) } \frac{9}{4}$

Solution

Note that $EJCI$ is a rhombus by symmetry. Let the side length of the cube be $s$. By the Pythagorean theorem, $EC= \sqrt 3s$ and $JI=\sqrt 2s$. Since the area of a rhombus is half the product of its diagonals, the area of the cross section is $\frac{\sqrt 6s^2}{2}$. This gives $R = \frac{\sqrt 6}2$. Thus $R^2 = \boxed{\textbf{(C) } \frac{3}{2}}$

Note

In the 2008 AMC 10A, Question 21 was nearly identical to this question, except that in this question you have to look for the square of the area, not the actual area.

See Also

2018 AMC 8 (Problems • Answer Key • Resources)
Preceded by
Problem 23 		Followed by
Problem 25
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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