2001 AIME I Problems/Problem 7

Problem

Triangle $ABC$ has $AB=21$ , $AC=22$ and $BC=20$ . Points $D$ and $E$ are located on $\overline{AB}$ and $\overline{AC}$ , respectively, such that $\overline{DE}$ is parallel to $\overline{BC}$ and contains the center of the inscribed circle of triangle $ABC$ . Then $DE=m/n$ , where $m$ and $n$ are relatively prime positive integers. Find $m+n$ .

Solution

$[asy] pointpen = black; pathpen = black+linewidth(0.7); pair B=(0,0), C=(20,0), A=IP(CR(B,21),CR(C,22)), I=incenter(A,B,C), D=IP((0,I.y)--(20,I.y),A--B), E=IP((0,I.y)--(20,I.y),A--C); D(MP("A",A,N)--MP("B",B)--MP("C",C)--cycle); D(incircle(A,B,C)); D(MP("I",I,NE)); D(MP("E",E,NE)--MP("D",D,NW)); D((A.x,0)--A,linetype("4 4")+linewidth(0.7)); D((I.x,0)--I,linetype("4 4")+linewidth(0.7)); D(rightanglemark(B,(A.x,0),A,30)); MP("20",(B+C)/2); MP("21",(A+B)/2,NW); MP("22",(A+C)/2,NE); [/asy]$

The semiperimeter of $ABC$ is $s = \frac{20 + 21 + 22}{2} = \frac{63}{2}$ . By Heron's formula, the area of the whole triangle is $A = \sqrt{s(s-a)(s-b)(s-c)} = \frac{21\sqrt{1311}}2$ . Using the formula $A = rs$ , we find that the inradius is $r = \frac{A}{s} = \frac{\sqrt{1311}}6$ . Since $\triangle ADE \sim \triangle ABC$ , the ratio of the heights of triangles $ADE$ and $ABC$ is equal to the ratio between sides $DE$ and $BC$ . From $A=\frac{1}{2}bh$ , we find $h_{ABC} = \frac{21\sqrt{1311}}{40}$ . Thus, we have

$\frac{h_{ADE}}{h_{ABC}} = \frac{h_{ABC}-r}{h_{ABC}} = \frac{21\sqrt{1311}/40-\sqrt{1311}/6}{21\sqrt{1311}/40}=\frac{DE}{20}.$

Solving for $DE$ gives $DE=\frac{860}{63},$ so the answer is $m+n=\boxed{923}$ .

2001 AIME I (Problems • Answer Key • Resources)
Preceded by Problem 6	Followed by Problem 8
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2001 AIME I Problems/Problem 7

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