2020 AMC 10 B

Complete problem set with solutions and individual problem pages

Problem 8 Easy

Points P and Q lie in a plane with P Q=8. How many locations for point R in this plane are there such that the triangle with vertices P, Q, and R is a right triangle with area 12 square units?(2020 AMC 10B, Question #8)

  • A.

    2

  • B.

    4

  • C.

    6

  • D.

    8

  • E.

    12

Answer:D

Solution 1:

There are 3 options here: 1. \mathbf{P} is the right angle. It's clear that there are 2 points that fit this, one that's directly to the right of P and one that's directly to the left. We don't need to find the length, we just need to know that it is possible, which it is. 2. \mathbf{Q} is the right angle. Using the exact same reasoning, there are also 2 solutions for this one. 3 . The new point is the right angle. (Diagram temporarily removed due to asymptote error) The diagram looks something like this. We know that the altitude to base \overline{A B} must be 3 since the area is 12 . From here, we must see if there are valid triangles that satisfy the necessary requirements. First of all, area. Next, \overline{B C}^{2}+\overline{A C}^{2}=64 from the Pythagorean Theorem. From here, we must look to see if there are valid solutions. There are multiple ways to do this: Recognizing min and max: We know that the minimum value of \overline{B C}^{2}+\overline{A C}^{2}=64 is when \overline{B C}=\overline{A C}=\sqrt{24}. In this case, the equation becomes 24+24=48, which is LESS than 64 . \overline{B C}=1, \overline{A C}=24. The equation becomes 1+576=577, which is obviously greater than 64 . We can conclude that there are values for \overline{B C} and \overline{A C} in between that satisfy the Pythagorean Theorem. And since \overline{B C} \neq \overline{A C}, the triangle is not isoceles, meaning we could reflect it over \overline{A B} and/or the line perpendicular to \overline{A B} for a total of 4 triangles this case.

Solution 2:

Note that line segment \overline{P Q} can either be the shorter leg, longer leg or the hypotenuse. If it is the shorter leg, there are two possible points for Q that can satisfy the requirements - that being above or below \overline{P Q}. As such, there are 2 ways for this case. Similarly, one can find that there are also 2 ways for point Q to lie if \overline{P Q} is the longer leg. If it is a hypotenuse, then there are 4 possible points because the arrangement of the shorter and longer legs can be switched, and can be either above or below the line segment. Therefore, the answer is 2+2+4=(\text{D}) 8