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geometry intermediate
Problem
Three congruent isosceles triangles , and have and . These triangles are arranged to form trapezoid , as shown. Point is on side so that is perpendicular to .

Point is the midpoint of and point is the midpoint of . When and are joined, the trapezoid is divided into two smaller trapezoids. The ratio of the area of trapezoid to the area of trapezoid in simplified form is . Find .
Point is the midpoint of and point is the midpoint of . When and are joined, the trapezoid is divided into two smaller trapezoids. The ratio of the area of trapezoid to the area of trapezoid in simplified form is . Find .
Solution
Since is isosceles with and is perpendicular to , point is the midpoint of , so . By the Pythagorean Theorem, .
Since is a trapezoid with height of length 8 ( is the height of ) and parallel sides ( and ) of length and , its area is
Since cuts and each in half, then it also cuts the height in half. Thus, each of the two smaller trapezoids has height 4. Next, we find the length of . The sum of the areas of trapezoids and must equal that of trapezoid . Therefore, Thus, the area of trapezoid is and the area of trapezoid is . Thus, the ratio of their areas is . Our answer is then .
Since is a trapezoid with height of length 8 ( is the height of ) and parallel sides ( and ) of length and , its area is
Since cuts and each in half, then it also cuts the height in half. Thus, each of the two smaller trapezoids has height 4. Next, we find the length of . The sum of the areas of trapezoids and must equal that of trapezoid . Therefore, Thus, the area of trapezoid is and the area of trapezoid is . Thus, the ratio of their areas is . Our answer is then .
Final answer
144