2017 AMC 10 B

Complete problem set with solutions and individual problem pages

Problem 21 Hard

In \triangle ABC, AB=6, AC=8, BC=10, and D is the midpoint of \overline{BC}. What is the sum of the radii of the circles inscribed in \triangle ADB and \triangle ADC? (2017 AMC 10B Problem, Question#21)

  • A.

    \sqrt 5

  • B.

    \frac {11}4

  • C.

    2\sqrt 2

  • D.

    \frac {17}6

  • E.

    3

Answer:D

We note that by the converse of the Pythagorean Theorem, \triangle ABC is a right triangle with a right angle at A. Therefore,AD=BD=CD=5, and [ADB]=[ADC]=12. Since A=rs, the inradius of \triangle ADB is \dfrac{12}{\dfrac{5+5+6}{2}}=\dfrac{3}{2 }, and the inradius of \triangle ADC is \dfrac{12}{\dfrac{5+5+8}{2}}=\dfrac{4}{3 }. Adding the two together, we have \frac {17}6.

We have \triangle ABC a right triangle by dividing each side lengths by 2 to create a well known 3-4-5 triangle. We also can know that the median of a right triangle must be equal to half the hypotenuse. Using this property, we have BD=5,CD=5, and AD=5. Now, we can use the Heron's formula to get the area of \triangle ABD as \sqrt{8\left( 2\right)\left( 3\right)\left( 3\right)}=\sqrt{144}=12. Afterward, we can apply this formula again on \triangle ADC to get the area as \sqrt{9\left( 4\right)\left( 4\right)\left( 1\right)}=\sqrt{144}=12. Notice we want the inradius. We can use another property, which is A=rs. This states that Area = Radius(Semiperimeter). (This can be proved by connecting the center of the inscribed circles to the vertices and we can notice the inradius is just the heights of each of the three triangles divided) Finally, we can derive the radii of each inscribed circle. Plugging the semiperimeter and area into the formula, we have 12=8r and 12=9r for \triangle ABD and \triangle ADC, respectively. Simplifying, we have the radii lengths as r=\frac 32and \frac 43. We want the sum, so we have \frac {17}6, or \rm (D).