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2015 AIME II Problems/Problem 15

Revision as of 19:40, 28 March 2015 by Hnkevin42 (talk | contribs) (→‎Solution)

Problem

Circles $\mathcal{P}$ and $\mathcal{Q}$ have radii $1$ and $4$, respectively, and are externally tangent at point $A$. Point $B$ is on $\mathcal{P}$ and point $C$ is on $\mathcal{Q}$ so that line $BC$ is a common external tangent of the two circles. A line $\ell$ through $A$ intersects $\mathcal{P}$ again at $D$ and intersects $\mathcal{Q}$ again at $E$. Points $B$ and $C$ lie on the same side of $\ell$, and the areas of $\triangle DBA$ and $\triangle ACE$ are equal. This common area is $\frac{m}{n}$, where $m$ and $n$ are relatively prime positive integers. Find $m+n$.

Solution

[asy] unitsize(35); draw(Circle((-1,0),1)); draw(Circle((4,0),4)); pair A,O_1, O_2, B,C,D,E,N,K,L,X,Y; A=(0,0);O_1=(-1,0);O_2=(4,0);B=(-24/15,-12/15);D=(-8/13,12/13);E=(32/13,-48/13);C=(24/15,-48/15);N=extension(E,B,O_2,O_1);K=foot(B,O_1,N);L=foot(C,O_2,N);X=foot(B,A,D);Y=foot(C,E,A); label("$A$",A,NE);label("$O_1$",O_1,NE);label("$O_2$",O_2,NE);label("$B$",B,SW);label("$C$",C,SW);label("$D$",D,NE);label("$E$",E,NE);label("$N$",N,W);label("$K$",(-24/15,0.2));label("$L$",(24/15,0.2));label("$n$",(-0.8,-0.12));label("$p$",((29/15,-48/15)));label("$\mathcal{P}$",(-1.6,1.1));label("$\mathcal{Q}$",(6,4)); draw(A--B--D--cycle);draw(A--E--C--cycle);draw(C--N);draw(O_2--N);draw(O_1--B,dashed);draw(O_2--C,dashed); dot(O_1);dot(O_2); draw(rightanglemark(O_1,B,N,5));draw(rightanglemark(O_2,C,N,5));draw(C--L,dashed);draw(B--K,dashed);draw(C--Y);draw(B--X); [/asy]

Call $O_1$ and $O_2$ the centers of circles $\mathcal{P}$ and $\mathcal{Q}$, respectively, and call $K$ and $L$ the feet of the altitudes from $B$ to $O_1N$ and $C$ to $O_2N$, respectively. Extend $CB$ and $O_2O_1$ to meet at point $N$. Using the fact that $\triangle{O_1BN} \sim \triangle{O_2CN}$ and setting $NO_1 = k$, we have that $\frac{k+5}{k} = \frac{4}{1} \implies k=\frac{5}{3}$. We can do some more length chasing using triangles similar to $OBN$ to get that $AK = AL = \frac{24}{15}$, $BK = \frac{12}{15}$, and $CL = \frac{48}{15}$. Now, consider the circles $\mathcal{P}$ and $\mathcal{Q}$ on the coordinate plane, where $A$ is the origin. If the line $\ell$ through $A$ intersects $\mathcal{P}$ at $D$ and $\mathcal{Q}$ at $E$, then $4 \cdot DA = AE$. To verify this, notice that $\triangle{AO_1D} \sim \triangle{EO_2A}$ from the fact that both triangles are isosceles with $\angle{O_1AD} \cong \angle{O_2AE}$, which are corresponding angles. Since $O_2A = 4\cdot O_1A$, we can conclude that $4 \cdot DA = AE$.


Hence, we need to find the slope $m$ of line $\ell$ such that the perpendicular distance $n$ from $B$ to $AD$ is four times the perpendicular distance $p$ from $C$ to $AE$. This will mean that the product of the bases and heights of triangles $ACE$ and $DBA$ will be equal, which in turn means that their areas will be equal. Let the line $\ell$ have the equation $y = -mx \implies mx + y = 0$' and let $m$ be a positive real number so that the negative slope of $\ell$ is preserved. Then, the coordinates of $B$ are $(x_B, y_B) = \left(\frac{-24}{15}, \frac{-12}{15}\right)$, and the coordinates of $C$ are $(x_C, y_C) = \left(\frac{24}{15}, \frac{-48}{15}\right)$. Using the point-to-line distance formula and the fact that $n = 4p$, we have \[\frac{|mx_B + 1(y_B) + 0|}{\sqrt{m^2 + 1}} = \frac{4|mx_C + 1(y_C) + 0|}{\sqrt{m^2 + 1}}\] \[\implies |mx_B + y_B| = 4|mx_C + y_C| \implies \left|\frac{-24m}{15} + \frac{-12}{15}\right| = 4\left|\frac{24m}{15} + \frac{-48}{15}\right|.\] Since $m$ takes on a positive value, we must switch the signs of all terms in this equation when we get rid of the absolute value signs. We then have \[\frac{6m}{15} + \frac{3}{15} = \frac{48}{15} - \frac{24m}{15} \implies 2m = 3 \implies m = \frac{3}{2}.\] Thus, the equation of $\ell$ is $y = -\frac{3}{2}x$.


Then we can find the coordinates of $D$ by finding the point $(x,y)$ other than $A = (0,0)$ where the circle $\mathcal{P}$ intersects $\ell$. $\mathcal{P}$ can be represented with the equation $(x + 1)^2 + y^2 = 1$, and substituting $y = -\frac{3}{2}x$ into this equation yields \[x^2 + 2x + 1 + \frac{9}{4}x^2 = 1 \implies \frac{13}{4}x^2 + 2x = 0 \implies x = 0, -\frac{8}{13}.\] Discarding $x = 0$, the $y$-coordinate of $D$ is $-\frac{3}{2} \cdot -\frac{8}{13} = \frac{12}{13}$. The distance from $D$ to $A$ is then $\sqrt{\left(\frac{-8}{13}\right)^2 + \left(\frac{12}{13}\right)^2} = \frac{4}{\sqrt{13}}.$ The perpendicular distance from $B$ to $AD$ or the height of $\triangle{DBA}$ is $\frac{|\frac{3}{2}\cdot\frac{-24}{15} + \frac{-12}{15} + 0|}{\sqrt{\frac{3}{2}^2 + 1}} = \frac{\frac{48}{15}}{\frac{\sqrt{13}}{2}} = \frac{32}{5\sqrt{13}}.$ Finally, the common area is $\frac{1}{2}\left(\frac{32}{5\sqrt{13}} \cdot \frac{4}{\sqrt{13}}\right) = \frac{64}{65}$, and $m + n = 64 + 65 = \boxed{129}$.

See also

2015 AIME II (Problems • Answer Key • Resources)
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