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geometry intermediate

Problem

The line crosses the -axis at and the -axis at . Point is on line segment . If the area of is three times the area of , then what is the value of ?
problem
Solution
The -intercept of the line is , so has coordinates .

To determine the -intercept, we set , and so obtain or or . Thus, has coordinates .

Therefore, the area of is , since is right-angled at .

Since we would like the area of to be one third that of , then the area of should be 18.

If has coordinates , then has base of length 12 and height , so or or .

Since lies on the line, then or or or .

Thus, .
Final answer
11