Area of Polygon 1 ASSIGNMENT-2 1

GEOMETRY
1. ABCD is a parallelogram and E is the midpoint of CD. Prove that area of ADE = 1/4 the area of
parallelogram ABCD.
(ii) Consider the family R of parallelograms on equal bases whose areas are all equal. Prove that
in R that which is a rectangle has the least perimeter.
2. (i) If the lengths of two sides of a triangle are given, show that its area is greatest when the angle
between the sides is a right angle.
(ii) ABC is a fixed triangle. P is any point on the same side of BC as that of A such that PAB and
ABC have equal areas. Find the locus of P.
3. (CHINA/1996) Let the heights on three sides of ABC ha, hb, hc respectively and 2b = a + c. Prove
2 1 1
that = +
hb ha hc
4. If ABC and XYZ are two triangles such that AB : BC = XY : YZ and the angles B and Y are
supplementary prove that [ABC]/[XYZ] = AB2/XY2

5. (i) In the given figure, what is the ratio of the areas of the two shaded triangles?

(ii) In the given figure, what is the ratio of the shaded area to the area of one of the five
congruent triangles?

6. ABCD is a rectangle, E is the mid-point of AD. F is the mid-point of EC. [ABCD] = 120 cm2; FIND
[BDF]
7. OA, OB, OC are three given line segments and P is any point on OC. If PM and PN are the
perpendiculars from P on OA and OB respectively, prove that PM : PN is a constant.
Area of Polygon 1 2

8. (CHNMOL/1993) When extending the sides AB, BC, CA of ABC to B', C', A' respectively, such that
AB'= 2AB, CC' = 2BC, AA' = 3CA. If area of ABC is 1, find the area of A'B'C'
9. (CHINA/2000) In ABC, D, E, F are on the sides BC, CA, AB respectively, such that AD, BE and CF
are concurrent at a point G, BD = 2CD, the areas S1 = |GEC| = 3 ,S2 = |GCD| =4. Find the area of
ABC
10. (AIME/1988) Let P be an interior point of triangle ABC and extend lines from the vertices through P
to the opposite sides. Let a, b, c, and d denote the lengths of the segments indicated in the figure
below. Find the product abc, if a + b + c = 43 and d = 3.

11. (CHNMOL/1998) In the isosceles right triangle ABC, AB = 1; A = 90°, E is the midpoint of leg AC.
The point F is on the base BC such that EF ⊥ BE. Find the area of CEF
12. (IMO/Shortlist/1989) In the convex quadrilateral ABCD, the midpoints of BC and AD are E and F
respectively. Prove that [EDA] + [FBC] = [ABCD].
13. (AIME/1984) A point P is chosen in the interior of ABC such that when lines are drawn through P
parallel to the sides of ABC, the resulting smaller triangles t1,t2 and t3 in the figure, have areas 4,9
and 49 respectively. Find the area of ABC.

14. In rectangle ABCD, G and H are trisection points of AD, and E and F are trisection points of BC. If
AB = 360 and BC = 450, compute the area of PQRS.
Area of Polygon 1 3

ANSWER KEY
5. 9/4, 3/2 6. 15 cm2 8. 18 9. 30
10. 441 11. 1/24 13. 144 14. 4500

Solutions
1. ABCD is a parallelogram and E is the midpoint of CD. Prove that area of ADE = 1/4 the area of
parallelogram ABCD.
(ii) Consider the family R of parallelograms on equal bases whose areas are all equal. Prove that
in R that which is a rectangle has the least perimeter.
Solution:
Draw EF || AD
[ADE] = 1/2 [AFED] = 1/4 [ABCD]

(ii) [ABEF] = [ABCD]

AF & AD & BE < BC [perpendicular distance is shortest]
 AB + BE + EF + AF < AB + BC + CD + AD

2. (i) If the lengths of two sides of a triangle are given, show that its area is greatest when the angle
between the sides is a right angle.
(ii) ABC is a fixed triangle. P is any point on the same side of BC as that of A such that PAB and
ABC have equal areas. Find the locus of P.
Solution:
(i) Clearly h < Ac
Area of Polygon 1 4

[ABC] = 1/2AB x h
[ABC]Max when h = AC this happens
When  = 90°
(ii) P lies on the line parallel to BC passing through A

3. (CHINA/1996) Let the heights on three sides of ABC ha, hb, hc respectively and 2b = a + c. Prove
2 1 1
that = +
hb ha hc
Solution:
1 1 1
Let A be area of the ABC. Then A = h a a = h b b = h cc therefore
2 2 2
2A 2A 2A
a= , b= , c=
ha hb hc

4A 2A 2A 2 1 1
Since 2b = a + c, we have = + i.e. = +
hb ha hc , hb ha hc
4. If ABC and XYZ are two triangles such that AB : BC = XY : YZ and the angles B and Y are
supplementary prove that [ABC]/[XYZ] = AB2/XY2
Solution:
Draw Z’Y = ZY
Area of Polygon 1 5

ABC  XYZ' BySAS

 ABC = AB2
 XYZ XY2
XYZ' = XYZ [XY is median]

 ABC = AB2
 XYZ XY2
5. (i) In the given figure, what is the ratio of the areas of the two shaded triangles?

(ii) In the given figure, what is the ratio of the shaded area to the area of one of the five
congruent triangles?

Solution:
(i)

1
 5  CE
A1 2 5CE
= =
A 2 1  4  BD 4BD
2
BD || CE
ABD  ACE
BD AB 5
= =
CE AC 9
A1 5 9 9
=  =
A2 4 5 4
Area of Polygon 1 6

(II)
Shaded area 4 3 3 1 2 1 1
= 1 +  +  + 
One Triangle Area 5 4 5 2 5 4 5

4 9 1 1 3
= + + + =
5 20 5 20 2
6. ABCD is a rectangle, E is the mid-point of AD. F is the mid-point of EC. [ABCD] = 120 cm2; Find
[BDF]
Solution:
Construction: Draw perpendicular from F to CD and BC to meet them at G and H respectively. Let
the sides of the rectangle have lengths 2a and b.

Now [ABCD] = 120 That is, (2a) ⋅ (b) = 120 ⇒ ab = 60

Because of Mid-point theorem, FG || ED in CED and F being the midpoint of CE, G will b be the
midpoint of DC; also CG = GD =b/2 & FG=a/2
Now [BDF] = [BDC] – [DFC] – [FBC]
1 a  1 b
= 60 −   b   −   2a  
2 2 2 2
1 1 60 60
 BDF = 60 − ab − ab − − = 15cm2
4 2 4 2
7. OA, OB, OC are three given line segments and P is any point on OC. If PM and PN are the
perpendiculars from P on OA and OB respectively, prove that PM : PN is a constant.
Solution:
Area of Polygon 1 7

PM OP PN
= =
CM ' OC CN '
PM CM '  AOC OB
= =  = c ons tan t
PN CN OA  BOC
8. (CHNMOL/1993) When extending the sides AB, BC, CA of ABC to B', C', A' respectively, such that
AB'= 2AB, CC' = 2BC, AA' = 3CA. If area of ABC is 1, find the area of A'B'C'
Solution:

BB'. BC '
From AB = BB’ , BC’ = 3 BC, [BB’C’] =  ABC = 3
AB.BC
Similarly,
 AA 'B' = AA '.AB' = 6
[ABC] AC.AB

 AA 'B' = 6

CC 'A ' = CA '.CC ' = 8 ,\

 ABC AC.BC
CC'A ' = 8. Thus

 A 'B'C' = 3 + 6 + 8 + 1 = 18
Area of Polygon 1 8

9. (CHINA/2000) In ABC, D, E, F are on the sides BC, CA, AB respectively, such that AD, BE and CF
are concurrent at a point G, BD = 2CD, the areas S1 = |GEC| = 3 ,S2 = |GCD| =4. Find the area of
ABC
Solution:
A shown in the diagram below, we denote area of the corresponding triangles by S1, S2, S3, S4, S5, S6
respectively. Then BD = 2DC  S3 = 2S2 = 8
BG S2 + S3 S +S
= =4= 4 5
GE S1 S6

 S4 + S5 = 4S6

S 4 + S5 = 2 (S6 + S1 ) = 2S6 + 6

4S6 = 2S6 + 6  S6 = 3

 S4 + S5 = 12

S4 BF S2 + S3
= =
S5 FA S1 + S6

12
= =2
6
We have S4 = 2S5, so S4 = 8, S5 = 4. Thus
[A + B + C] = 3 + 4 + 8 + 8 + 4 + 3 = 30
10. (AIME/1988) Let P be an interior point of triangle ABC and extend lines from the vertices through P
to the opposite sides. Let a, b, c, and d denote the lengths of the segments indicated in the figure
below. Find the product abc, if a + b + c = 43 and d = 3.

Solution:
Let ta, tb, tc be the perpendicular distance of P from BC, CA, AB and ha, hb, hc the heights on BC, CA,
AB, respectively
Area of Polygon 1 9

ta tb tc
+ + = 1 and
ha hb hc

t a  CPF d
= =
h a  CAF d + a

tb d tc d
= , =
hb d + b hc d + c

d d d
 + + =1
d+a d+b d+c
d ( b + d )( c + d ) + ( a + d )( c + d ) + ( a + d )( b + d )  = ( a + d )( b + d )( c + d )

d ( ab + bc + ca ) + 6 ( a + b + c ) + 27 

= abc + 3 ( ab + bc + ca ) + 9 ( a + b + c ) + 27

abc = 9 ( a + b + c ) + 54 = 9  43 + 54 = 441

11. (CHNMOL/1998) In the isosceles right triangle ABC, AB = 1; A = 90°, E is the midpoint of leg AC.
The point F is on the base BC such that EF ⊥ BE. Find the area of CEF

Solution:
From C introduce CD ⊥ AC, intersecting the extension of EF at D
ABE = CED,
 RtABE ~ Rt CED,


 CED   CE 
=
2
1
 =
 ABE   AB  4
CE AB
And = =2
CD AE
Since ECF = 45 = DCF
CF is the angle bisector of DCE
Therefore the distance from F to CE is equal to that of F to CD, hence
Area of Polygon 1 10

CEF = CE = 2.Thus
CDF CD
2 2 1 2 1 1 1
CEF = CED = .  ABE  = . . =
3 3 4 3 4 4 24

M2
[BEC] = [ABC] – [AEB]
1 1
= −
2 4
1
 EBC =
4
 BEF = BF
 BEC BC
1
 EF  BE
2 BF
=
1 2
4
BE
 EF  BE =
2 2

 8EF2  8E 2 = BF2
 8EF2  BE 2 = BE 2 + EF 2

BE 2
EF2 =
8BE 2 − 1
BE
EF2 =
8BE 2 − 1

1 1 BE 2
 
BEF =  BE  EF =
2 2 8BE 2 − 1
5
=
24
Area of Polygon 1 11

1 5 1
CEF = − =
4 24 24
12. (IMO/Shortlist/1989) In the convex quadrilateral ABCD, the midpoints of BC and AD are E and F
respectively. Prove that [EDA] + [FBC] = [ABCD].
Solution:
Let CF, BF intersect DE, AE at P, Q respectively. If suffices to show that S4 = S6 + S2. Let h1, h2, h3 be
the heights of the triangles ABE, FBC, and DEC respectively, then h2 = 1/2 (h1 + h3).Therefore

1
S4 + S5 + S1 = h 2 .BC
2
1
= ( h 1 + h 3 ) .BC
4
1 1
= h1 ( 2BE ) + h 3 ( 2EC )
4 4
= (S6 + S5 ) + (S2 + S1 )

= S6 + S2 + S5 + S1
S4 = S6 + S2
13. (AIME/1984) A point P is chosen in the interior of ABC such that when lines are drawn through P
parallel to the sides of ABC, the resulting smaller triangles t1,t2 and t3 in the figure, have areas 4,9
and 49 respectively. Find the area of ABC.

Solution:
Since the three triangles t1, t2, t3 are similar, so the ratios of their corresponding sides are
given by
Area of Polygon 1 12

PF : DE : PI

= 4 : 9 : 49
=2:3:7
 CE : DE : BD = 2 : 3: 7,

 CE : CB = 2 : ( 2 + 3 + 7 )

= 2 : 12,
GPF :  ABC = 22 :122

= 4 : 144
GPF = 4,  ABC = 144
14. In rectangle ABCD, G and H are trisection points of AD, and E and F are trisection points of BC. If
AB = 360 and BC = 450, compute the area of PQRS.

Solution:

Clearly ABFH is a rectangle & its’s diagonals intersect at R

 BR = RH = AR = RF
 ERG || AB || GH
In rectangle ABEG, diagonal intersect at P.
BERM is a Rectangle
By symmetry [PQR] = [PSR]
PQR  EQB
PR PQ
=
BE EQ
Area of Polygon 1 13

PQ 1  PQR  1  PQR 
= =  =
EQ 2  EQR  1 + 2  PQR  +  EQR 

1 1 
 PQR  =   PRE  =  180  75
3 3 2
[PQRS] = 2 x 2250 = 4500