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jmc

geometry intermediate

Problem

Triangle has vertices , , . A line through cuts the area of in half; find the sum of the slope and -intercept of this line.
Solution
The line through that cuts the area of in half is the median -- that is, the line through and the midpoint of . (This line cuts the area of the triangle in half, because if we consider as its base, then the height of each of and is equal to the distance of point from the line through and . These two triangles also have equal bases because , so their areas must be equal.)

The midpoint of has coordinates . The line through and has slope , and since this line passes through , it has equation or . Finally, the desired sum of the slope and -intercept is .
Final answer
-2