1959 AHSME Problems/Problem 15

Problem

In a right triangle the square of the hypotenuse is equal to twice the product of the legs. One of the acute angles of the triangle is: $\textbf{(A)}\ 15^{\circ} \qquad\textbf{(B)}\ 30^{\circ} \qquad\textbf{(C)}\ 45^{\circ} \qquad\textbf{(D)}\ 60^{\circ}\qquad\textbf{(E)}\ 75^{\circ}$

Solution 1

WLOG, by scaling, that the hypotenuse has length 1. Let $\theta$ be an angle opposite from some leg. Then the two legs have length $\sin\theta$ and $\cos\theta$ respectively, so we have $2\sin\theta\cos\theta = 1^2$ . From trigonometry, we know that this equation is true when $\theta = 45^{\circ}$ , so our answer is $\boxed{\textbf{(C)}}$ and we are done.

Solution 2 (Answer choices)

Look at the options. Note that if $\textbf{(A)}$ is the correct answer, one of the acute angles of the triangle will measure to $15$ degrees. This implies that the other acute angle of the triangle would measure to be $75$ degrees, which would imply that $\textbf{(E)}$ is another correct answer. However, there is only one correct answer per question, so $\textbf{(A)}$ can't be a correct answer. Using a similar argument, neither $\textbf{(B)}$ , $\textbf{(D)}$ , nor $\textbf{(E)}$ can be a correct answer. Since $\textbf{(C)}$ is the only answer choice left and there must be one correct answer, the answer must be $\boxed{\textbf{(C)}}$ .

1959 AHSC (Problems • Answer Key • Resources)
Preceded by Problem 14	Followed by Problem 16
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1959 AHSME Problems/Problem 15

Contents

Problem

Solution 1

Solution 2 (Answer choices)

See also