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jmc

geometry senior

Problem

Quadrilateral is inscribed in a circle with segment a diameter of the circle. If and , the ratio of the area of to the area of the circle can be expressed as a common fraction in simplest radical form in terms of as , where and are positive integers. What is the value of ?
Solution
Let the radius of the circle be . Then segment has length . Recall that an inscribed angle is half the measure of the arc it cuts. Because is a diameter of the circle, arcs and both have measure 180 degrees. Thus, angles and have measure half that, or 90 degrees. Thus, they are both right angles. Now we know that triangle is a 30-60-90 right triangle and that triangle is a 45-45-90 right triangle.

We can use the ratios of the sides in these special triangles to determine that Now we can find the areas of triangles and . Thus, the area of quadrilateral is the sum of the areas of triangles and . The area of the circle is . Thus, the ratio of the area of to the area of the circle is Thus, , , and . Finally, we find .
Final answer
7