2018 AMC 8 Problems/Problem 24

Problem 24

In the cube $ABCDEFGH$ with opposite vertices $C$ and $E,$ $J$ and $I$ are the midpoints of edges $\overline{FB}$ 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. 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 it's diagonals, so the area of the cross section is $\frac{\sqrt 6s^2}{2}$ . $R = \frac{\sqrt 6}2$ . Thus $R^2 = \boxed{\textbf{(C) } \frac{3}{2}}$

2018 AMC 8 (Problems • Answer Key • Resources)
Preceded by Problem 23	Followed by Problem 25
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2018 AMC 8 Problems/Problem 24

Problem 24

Solution