2016 AMC 8 Problems/Problem 22

Problem

Rectangle $DEFA$ below is a $3 \times 4$ rectangle with $DC=CB=BA=1$ . The area of the "bat wings" (shaded area) is

$[asy] draw((0,0)--(3,0)--(3,4)--(0,4)--(0,0)--(2,4)--(3,0)); draw((3,0)--(1,4)--(0,0)); fill((0,0)--(1,4)--(1.5,3)--cycle, black); fill((3,0)--(2,4)--(1.5,3)--cycle, black); label("$A$",(3.05,4.2)); label("$B$",(2,4.2)); label("$C$",(1,4.2)); label("$D$",(0,4.2)); label("$E$", (0,-0.2)); label("$F$", (3,-0.2)); label("$1$", (0.5, 4), N); label("$1$", (1.5, 4), N); label("$1$", (2.5, 4), N); label("$4$", (3.2, 2), E); [/asy]$

$\textbf{(A) }2\qquad\textbf{(B) }2 \frac{1}{2}\qquad\textbf{(C) }3\qquad\textbf{(D) }3 \frac{1}{2}\qquad \textbf{(E) }5$

Solution 1

Let G be the midpoint B and C Draw H, J, K beneath C, G, B, respectively.

$[asy] draw((0,0)--(3,0)--(3,4)--(0,4)--(0,0)--(2,4)--(3,0)); draw((3,0)--(1,4)--(0,0)); fill((0,0)--(1,4)--(1.5,3)--cycle, grey); fill((3,0)--(2,4)--(1.5,3)--cycle, grey); draw((1,0)--(1,4)); draw((1.5,0)--(1.5,4)); draw((2,0)--(2,4)); label("$A$",(3.05,4.2)); label("$B$",(2,4.2)); label("$C$",(1,4.2)); label("$D$",(0,4.2)); label("$E$", (0,-0.2)); label("$F$", (3,-0.2)); label("$G$", (1.5, 4.2)); label("$H$", (1, -0.2)); label("$J$", (1.5, -0.2)); label("$K$", (2, -0.2)); label("$1$", (0.5, 4), N); label("$1$", (2.5, 4), N); label("$4$", (3.2, 2), E); [/asy]$

Let us take a look at rectangle CDEH. I have labeled E' for convenience. First of all, we can see that EE'H and CE'B are similar triangles because all their three angles are the same. Furthermore, since EH=CB, we can confirm that EE'H and CE'B are identical triangles. Thus, CE'=E'H, which is half of CH.

$[asy] fill((0,0)--(1,4)--(1,2)--cycle, grey); draw((0,0)--(1,0)--(1,4)--(0,4)--(0,0)); draw((0,0)--(1,4)--(1,2)--(0,0)); label("$C$",(1,4.2)); label("$D$",(0,4.2)); label("$E$", (0,-0.2)); label("$H$", (1, -0.2)); label("$E'$", (1.2, 2)); [/asy]$

Then we can see that CEE' has $\frac{1}{4}$ the area of CDEH because it has half the base and the same height. Similarly, the shaded regions in CGJH, BGJK, and ABKF all have $\frac{1}{4}$ the area of their rectangle. So, the total shaded region is just $\frac{1}{4}$ the area of the total region, or $\frac{1}{4} \times 3 \times 4$ , or $\boxed{\textbf{(C) }3}$

Solution 2

The area of trapezoid $CBFE$ is $\frac{1+3}2\cdot 4=8$ . Next, we find the height of each triangle to calculate their area. The two non-colored isosceles triangles are similar, and are in a $3:1$ ratio by AA similarity (alternate interior and vertical angles) so the height of the larger is $3,$ while the height of the smaller one is $1.$ Thus, their areas are $\frac12$ and $\frac92$ . Subtracting these areas from the trapezoid, we get $8-\frac12-\frac92 =\boxed3$ . Therefore, the answer to this problem is $\boxed{\textbf{(C) }3}$

Video Solution (CREATIVE THINKING + ANALYSIS!!!)

https://youtu.be/oBzkBYeHFa8

~Education, the Study of Everything

Video Solutions

https://youtu.be/Tvm1YeD-Sfg - Happytwin
https://youtu.be/q3MAXwNBkcg ~savannahsolver

Video Solution by OmegaLearn

https://youtu.be/FDgcLW4frg8?t=4448 ~ pi_is_3.14

2016 AMC 8 (Problems • Answer Key • Resources)
Preceded by Problem 21	Followed by Problem 23
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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