Geometry

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Geometry

by harsh.champ » Fri Feb 05, 2010 5:43 am
Answer the questions on the basis of the information given below.
In the following figure, arc AB is a quadrant of the circle with center at point O and radius 4 units. Further,
OC = OD, OC:OA = 3:4.



What is the area (in square units) of the ΔAGC?

(A)2 / 3
(B)7/ 8
(C)3 / 2
(D)6 / 7
(E)1 / 2
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figure arc.jpg
Source: — Problem Solving |

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by jeffedwards » Fri Feb 05, 2010 12:22 pm
Is there a graph or something we're missing? There is no mention of G or the placement of C and A - are they in the circle on the circumference...where?

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by harsh.champ » Fri Feb 05, 2010 12:59 pm
jeffedwards wrote:Is there a graph or something we're missing? There is no mention of G or the placement of C and A - are they in the circle on the circumference...where?
________________
I am sorry,but isn't my attachment visible.
G is the point of intersection of the lines AD and BC.

If the attachment is not visible,I am re-posting it over here.
Attachments
figure arc.jpg

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by ldoolitt » Mon Feb 08, 2010 1:42 pm
I get (D).

Observe the following (I'm omitting some intermetiate calculations that apply to 3-4-5 triangles, 45-45-90 triangles, and sines)

Aagc = Aaob - Aaod - Aagb

From the problem description you get that
<AOB = 90 since the semicircle is a quarter of the total circle
Segment AC = 1 and segment CO = 3 from the ratios given in the problem.

Given this you can quickly see that AOD is a 3-4-5 triangle and thatn AOB is a 45-45-90 triangle
Aaob = .5 * 4 * 4 = 8
Aod = .5 * 3 * 4 = 6

Now we only need to find the Aagb. Since AOB is 45-45-90 we know that segment AB is of length 4*root(2). Thus we are left with the problem of finding the height of AGB. That is tricky...

Manufacture a new point, D' which is perpendicular to segment AB and intersects D. Also make a point G' that bisects segment AB. Note that AGG' and ADD' are similar triangles.

Since D'BD is 45 degrees, both D'D and D'B must be root(2)/2 (use sine(45)=1/root(2))

Now to utilize the similar triangles note the following ratio will hold:

GG' / DD' = AG' / AD'

where GG' is the desired value. Filling in numbers:

GG' / (root(2)/2) = 2 * root(2) / (4*root(2) - root(2) / 2)

Cross multiplying we get

GG' = 4*root(2) / 14

Going back to the original formula

Aagc = Aaob - Aaod - Aagb
Aagc = 8 - 6 - .5 * (4*root(2)) * (4*root(2) / 14))

Simplifying you get 6/7

...

That being said if I had seen the problem and knew that I had to do those calculations I would have skipped it.

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by ldoolitt » Tue Feb 09, 2010 6:13 am
Now I'm curious....is this correct? Does anyone have a faster way? I found this problem to be ultra hard.

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by shashank.ism » Tue Feb 09, 2010 7:06 am
harsh.champ wrote:
jeffedwards wrote:Is there a graph or something we're missing? There is no mention of G or the placement of C and A - are they in the circle on the circumference...where?
________________
I am sorry,but isn't my attachment visible.
G is the point of intersection of the lines AD and BC.

If the attachment is not visible,I am re-posting it over here.
Harsh this question is getting tougher on me.. please post your solution so that I can get some concepts if I m missing any.Please post your solution,.
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