Cartesian Coordinate Bashing

Anon E. Mouse
March 1, 2018

1 Introduction
In this handout we apply the techniques of Cartesian coordinates to solve mostly computational
geometry problems in contests. It is assumed that the reader has full knowledge of the coordinate
formulas taught in Precalculus and any math classes below it. As such, this paper will mostly be
informative examples, with a few less well-known formulas sprinkled throughout. Note: rarely will
a problem on a contest require the usage of coordinates, and solutions without coordinates are gen-
erally cleaner and involve less writing. Thus, when solving geometry problems, it is recommended
to try using synthetic methods before coordinates.

1.1 What is coordinate bashing?

Coordinate bashing is the process of putting a geometric figure onto the Cartesian coordinate plane
to deduce various properties about the figure. To be a good coordinate basher, one must master
the following three skills:
1. Applying formulas and techniques to find the relevant properties about the diagram. This
will be the bulk of this paper, and includes finding equations of lines, finding coordinates for
points, and so on.
2. Making appropriate simplifying assumptions. The easier part of this is properly choosing the
x and y axis. The harder part of this is to analyze whether or not the problem conditions
fully determine the diagram, and if not, making appropriate assumptions to simplify the
calculations. Although this strategy will not work for proof problems, more overpowered
coordinate systems should be used for olympiad geometry problems anyway.
3. Manipulating and simplifying algebraic expressions. Since a coordinate bashing approach on
most problems is somewhat messy, it is necessary for the basher to be able to simplify the
resulting expressions quickly and efficiently.

1.2 When and when not to use it

It’s very important to be able to recognize when a problem can be solved with coordinates, because
failure to do so can cause you to get lost in a confusion of long algebraic expressions. The following
things in a geometry problem suggest a coordinate approach might be fruitful:
• Lots of intersecting lines
• Ratios of side lengths which lie on the same line
• Triangles with nice heights
• Isosceles and equilateral triangles
• Parallel and perpendicular lines (right angles)
• Collinearity and concurrency
On the other hand, the following things in a geometry problem suggest that a coordinate approach
will probably be very messy:
• Lots of circles

1
 • Lines tangent to circles

• Arbitrary equal angles

• Angles inscribed in circles
• Arbitrary distances
• Regular polygons with many sides

Through examples, it will become apparent as to why these items are on their corresponding lists.

2 Lines, Intersections, Slopes

The power of coordinates is that it allows us to easily find intersections between lines. Since lines
involve linear equations, the intersections will have fairly simple forms.

2.1 Lines and Concurrency

Example 2.1.1 Consider triangle ABC with D the midpoint of BC, E the midpoint of AC, and
F the midpoint of AB. Prove that line segments AD, BE, and CF intersect at one point, the
centroid. Additionally, prove that these segments split each other into a 2 : 1 ratio.

Solution: This problem has only lines and is thus well suited for coordinates. For problems where
we are given an arbitrary triangle, it is often times the best choice to set one vertex of the triangle
to be the origin and an edge of the triangle to be along the x or y axis. Here, we let A be the origin
and AB be along the x axis. The most general coordinates of the vertices are then A(0, 0), B(b, 0),
and C(a, c). In order to prove that the three lines intersect at one point we must find the equations
of the line. By the midpoint formula, we have F ( 2b , 0), E( a2 , 2c ), and D( a+b c
2 , 2 ). Furthermore, the
slopes of lines AD, BE, and CF respectively are:
c c 2c
a+b , a−2b , 2a−b .

Through the point slope formula and simplification we get the equations of lines AD, BE, and CF
respectively to be:
c
y= a+b x

c bc
y= a−2b x − a−2b

2c bc
y= 2a−b x − 2a−b

Treat the first two line equations as a system of equations for x and y. Solving gives x = a+b
3 and
y = 3c . Now we need to verify that these values satisfy the third line equation. Plugging in the
value of x to the RHS, we have
2c a+b bc 2ac−bc c(2a−b) c
2a−b · 3 − 2a−b = 3(2a−b) = 3(2a−b) = 3

This is the value of y we found earlier. Note that we have assumed 2a 6= b. In this case, it is easy
to fix the proof by noticing that the equation of line CF is simply x = 2b . It is left as an exercise to
the reader to do so. Thus, we have proved the existence of the centroid. We next show that the line
segment AD is split into a 2 : 1 ratio. Denote by G the centroid of the triangle. Since A, G, and D
are collinear, instead of taking the ratio of the lengths AG and GD, we can instead take the ratio
of the differences of their x coordinates. (To prove this rigorously, drop perpendiculars from G and
D to line AB and use similar triangles.) This is a key point that makes many coordinate bashing
problems much easier. The difference in x coordinate between A and G is a+b 3 , and the difference
between G and D is a+b 2 − a+b
3 = a+b
6 . Since the former difference is twice the latter difference, we
have shown that AG/GD = 2. A similar process shows that this is true for the other three medians.

Example 2.1.2 (Source: 2013 AIME II) In 4ABC, AC = BC,√ and point D is on BC so that
CD = 3 · BD. Let E be the midpoint of AD. Given that CE = 7 and BE = 3, find the area of

2
4ABC.

Solution: Let the midpoint of AB be the origin, and AB be the x axis. Then we have A(−a, 0), B(a, 0),
and C(0, b). It’s not hard to see that D( 3a b
4 , 4 ). (drop perpendiculars from C and D and use sim-
ilar triangles) E is the midpoint of AD, so E(− a8 , 8b ). Applying the distance formula, we have
2
b2
CE 2 = a64 + 49 2 2 81 2 2
64 b = 7 and BE = 64 a + 64 = 9. This is a system of linear equations in a and
√ √
b2 . Solving gives a = 7 and b = 3. Thus, the area of triangle ABC is 3 7 .

Exercise 2.1.3 Consider trapezoid ABCD with AB parallel to CD. Let the midpoint of AB be
E and the midpoint of CD be F . Prove that lines EF , AC, and BD are concurrent.

Exercise 2.1.4 (Important) Points A(a, b), B, and C(c, d) are on a line, in that order. Suppose that
n m
AB/BC = m/n. Prove that the coordinates of B are given by m+n A + m+n B = ( na+mc nb+md
m+n , m+n ).

2.2 Parallel and Perpendicular lines

Given two points, it is easy to find the slope of the line that connects them. Two lines that are
parallel have equal slope, and two lines that are perpendicular have slopes which multiply to −1.
These conditions are fairly easy to use, which makes coordinate bashing effective at dealing with
parallel and perpendicular lines.

Example 2.2.1 The perpendicular bisectors of the triangle ABC are drawn. Prove that they
intersect at one point, the circumcenter.

Solution: Like we did to prove the existence of the centroid, let A(0, 0), B(b, 0), and C(a, c). Let the
midpoint of AB be F ( 2b , 0), the midpoint of AC be E( a2 , 2c ), and the midpoint of BC be D( a+b c
2 , 2 ).
b
Clearly the perpendicular bisector of AB is a vertical line, so its equation is simply x = 2 . Line
AC has slope ac , so the perpendicular bisector of AC has slope − ac . From the point slope formula,
its equation is y − 2c = − ac (x − a2 ). Finally, line BC has slope a−b c
, so its perpendicular bisector
has slope c . By the point slope formula its equation is y − 2 = c (x − a+b
b−a c b−a
2 ). Now we have to
verify that these three lines have one intersection point. Plugging x = 2b into the other two line
equations gives
c
y= 2 − ac ( 2b − a2 ) and y = c
2 − b−a b
c (2 − a+b
2 ).

c ab−a2
Some trivial simplification reveals that both of these imply y = 2 − 2c . Thus, all three lines
intersect at one point.

The incenter of a triangle is generally messier to work with than the centroid, circumcenter, and
orthocenter (proof of which is included in the exercises) because of its awkward angle bisector
condition. However, for the case where triangle ABC is right with A as the right angle, set A to be
the origin and AB and AC to be the axes. Connect the center of the incircle to edges AB and AC.
It’s not hard to see that the resulting quadrilateral will be a square. Letting r be the inradius, we
see that the incenter is simply (r, r).

Example 2.2.2 (Source: 2018 AMC 12A) Triangle ABC is an isosceles right triangle with
AB = AC = 3. Let M be the midpoint of hypotenuse BC. Points I and E lie on sides AC
and AB, respectively, so that AI > AE and AIM E is a cyclic quadrilateral. Given that triangle
EM I has area 2, find CI.

Solution: This problem demonstrates the important lesson of making as many synthetic obser-
vations as possible before resorting to coordinates. Since AIM E is cyclic and 6 BAC is right,
6 IM E = 90◦ . This fairly simple observation allows us to solve the problem with coordinates. We
don’t know the slope of line M I, so let it be m. We have M ( 23 , 32 ). Then the equation of line M I
is y − 32 = m(x − 32 ). Since EM is perpendicular to M I, the slope of line EM is − m 1
. Then the
3 1 3
equation of line EM is y − 2 = − m (x − 2 ). To find the coordinates of I, we set y = 0 for the line

3
 −3+3m
M I and solve for x. Doing this gives x = 2m .

To find the coordinates of E, we set x = 0 for line EM and solve for y. Doing this gives y = 3+3m 2m .
−3 2
Now by the distance formula, M I 2 = ( 2m ) + ( 32 )2 . Additionally, EM 2 = ( 23 )2 + ( 2m
3 2
) . Remark-
ably, EM = M I. Since the area of triangle EM I is 2, EM = M I = 2. This means 94 + 4m 9
2 = 4,
3
and solving gives m = − √7 .
√
−3+3m 3m−3 3− 7
Finally, CI = 3 − AI = 3 − 2m = 2m= .
2
Exercise 2.2.3 In 4ABC the altitudes from A, B, C are drawn to the opposite sides of the tri-
angles (possibly extended). Prove that these three altitudes intersect at one point, the orthocenter.

Exercise 2.2.4 (Source: 2018 AMC 12B) In 4ABC with side lengths AB = 13, AC = 12, and
BC = 5, let O and I denote the circumcenter and incenter, respectively. A circle with center M is
tangent to the legs AC and BC and to the circumcircle of 4ABC. What is the area of 4M OI?

2.3 Point to Line Formula

Theorem. The distance between the point (x0 , y0 ) and the line Ax + By + C = 0 is given by
|Ax0 +By0 +C|
√
A2 +B 2
.

Usually, this theorem is not needed because the problem will have simple angles with distances
that you can figure out in simpler ways. However, the point of coordinate bashing is to provide a
mechanical way of doing problems, so the theorem is included for completeness.

Example 2.3.1 (Source: 2018 AMC 12A) In right triangle ABC with AB = 3, BC = 4, and
AC = 5, a square is drawn such that one of its edges lies on AB, another edge lies on BC, and
the square lies within the triangle. If the distance from the closest point on the square to the
hypotenuse of the triangle is 2, find the side length of the square.

Solution: Let the vertex of the square opposite B be D. The distance from D to AC is 2. Suppose
the side length of the square is d. Let B be the origin, C(4, 0), and A(0, 3). The equation of line
AC is 3x + 4y − 12 = 0. By the point to line formula, the distance from D to AC is |3d+4d−12|
5 = 2,
so |7d − 12| = 10. The two values of d we get are 227 and 2
7 . Drawing a diagram quickly shows that
2
the first value of d causes part of the square to go outside the triangle, so the answer is .
7

2.4 Angles
Problems involving lots of angles are generally not easily solved using coordinates, but there are
still some strategies to make the bashing a bit simpler.

Example 2.4.1 Consider a line of slope m. Find the measure of the acute angle it forms with the
x axis.

Solution: Clearly, a line with negative slope forms the same acute angle with the x axis as a line
with positive slope but the same magnitude. Thus, assume m is positive. Pick any point C on the
line and drop a perpendicular to the x axis and call this point B. Suppose the line’s x-intercept
is A. By the definition of slope, rise over run is m. However, this is also equal to CB
BA , which is
tan(6 BAC), where 6 BAC is the angle the line forms with the x axis. Thus, 6 BAC = arctan(m).

Example 2.4.2 Find the angle formed by two lines with slopes m1 and m2 .

Solution: We apply the results of the previous example. If both m1 and m2 are negative, we can
negate both slopes without affecting the angle. Thus, we can assume that at least one of the slopes
is positive. Suppose first that both slopes are positive and m2 > m1 . Then the angle between the
lines is simply the difference between their angles to the x axis, or arctan(m2 ) − arctan(m1 ). We
can simplify this by taking the tangent of both sides and using the tangent addition formula:

4
 m2 −m1
tan(arctan(m2 ) − arctan(m1 )) = 1+m1 m2

Now suppose m2 is negative. By blindly taking arctan(m2 ), we get the obtuse angle formed by the
line to the x axis. (Why?) Draw a horizontal line passing through the intersection point of the two
lines. By taking the obtuse angle above and subtracting the angle formed by the line of slope m1
and the x axis, we get one of the angles of intersection. It may be obtuse or acute, but regardless,
m2 −m1
the angle will be arctan(m2 ) − arctan(m1 ). Thus, in both cases, the angle will be arctan( 1+m 1 m2
).

Example 2.4.3 In triangle ABC, AB = 13, AC = 14, and BC = 15. Let A be the origin and AC
be along the x axis. Find the coordinates of the incenter of triangle ABC.

Solution: Let the angle bisector of A hit BC at point D. By Heron’s formula, the area of ABC is 84.
So the height of the triangle from B is 12. Since AB = 13, by the Pythagorean Theorem, we have
B(5, 12). Furthermore, C(14, 0). By the angle bisector theorem, AB/AC = BD/DC = 13/14.
From exercise 2.1.4, the coordinates of D are ( 28 56 2
3 , 9 ). Thus line AD has equation y = 3 x. Since
the semiperimeter of ABC is 21, by the formula A = rs, r = 4. Therefore, the incenter must have
y coordinate of 4 and lies on the line AD. So the coordinates of the incenter are (6, 4) . Alter-
natively, we could have found the equation of the angle bisector of BE, then solved the system of
equations for AD and BE to get the coordinates of the incenter.

3 Dealing with circles

The equation of a circle involves squares and as such, is harder to work with than lines. As men-
tioned in the introduction, if you see a problem with many circles or many inscribed angles in
a circle, the use of coordinates is likely to get you lost in a mess of square roots and fractions.
However, this doesn’t mean that coordinates are useless for any geometry problem with a circle.

Example 3.1 (Source: Mandelbrot) Points X and Y along chord AB of a circle are situated so
that AX = 3, XY = 4, and Y B = 5. If OX and OY are perpendicular, where O is the center of
the circle, find the area of the circle.

Solution: Since the equation of a circle is generally ugly enough, it’s usually a good idea to at least
consider putting the center of a circle at the origin. Here, set O to be the origin and let the x axis
be parallel to AB. Since chord AB (not considering points X and Y ) is symmetric about the y
axis, the x coordinates of A and B are equal in magnitude and opposite in sign. Since AB = 12,
the x coordinate of A is −6. Let the radius of the circle be r. Then the equation of the circle is
x2 + y 2 √
= r2 . Letting x = −6 and taking√the positive value of√y, we get the coordinates of A to
be (−6, r2 − 36). Then we have X(−3, r2 − 36) and Y (1, r2 −√36). Since OX and OY are
2 −36 √
perpendicular, the product of their slopes must be −1. This means r−3 · r2 − 36 = −1. This
means r2 = 39, so the area of the circle is 39π .

Example 3.2 (Radical Axis Theorem) Given a circle with center O, the power of a point P with
respect to the circle is given by OP 2 − r2 , where r is the radius of the circle. Suppose we have
two circles that intersect in two points. Prove that the set of points that have equal power with
respect to both circles is a line passing through the two intersecting points.

Solution: Let the first circle be x2 +y 2 = r2 and the equation of the second circle be (x−a)2 +y 2 =
R2 . Take the point P to be (x, y). We find the power of P with respect to both circles and equate
them to see what values of x and y satisfy the desired condition. The power with respect to the
first circle is x2 + y 2 − r2 by the distance formula. The power with respect to the second circle is
(x − a)2 + y 2 − R2 . Equating the two, we have x2 + y 2 − r2 = x2 − 2ax + a2 + y 2 − R2 . Simplifying
2 2 2
and solving for x gives x = a +r2a−R , the equation of a vertical line. Clearly, if P is one of the two
intersection points of the two circles, the power with respect to both circles is zero and therefore
equal. Since two points define a line, the line of equal power passes through the two intersection
points.

5
Example 3.3 (Source: WOOT Mock AIME) In acute triangle ABC, H is the intersection of alti-
tudes CE and BD. The circle with diameter DE intersects AB and AC at F and G respectively.
Let K be the intersection of F G and AH. If BC = 25, BD = 20, and BE = 7, then find AK.

Solution: This is a tough one, so to prevent the solution from being five pages, we omit some
simpler steps. By the Pythagorean Theorem, CD = 15 and CE = 24. We turn to coordinates to
49 168
locate A. Let B be the origin and BC the x axis. Through similar triangles, we find E( 25 , 25 )
and D(16, 12). Since C(25, 0), the equations of lines BE and CD are y = 7 x and y = − 3 x + 100
24 4
3
respectively. Solving these equations simultaneously, we get x = 7 and y = 24, so A(7, 24). This
means that AD = 15, so since AD = DC, triangle ABC is isosceles. Additionally, AE = 18.

With the knowledge that ABC is isosceles, we can switch to a better coordinate system. Let D
be the origin, AC be the x axis, and BD be the y axis. We have A(−15, 0), C(15, 0) and B(0, 20).
Since AE : EB = 18 : 7, we can use exercise 2.1.4 and get the coordinates of E to be (− 21 72
5 , 5 ).
21 36
Let the center of the circle with diameter DE be O. Since O is the midpoint of DE, O(− 10 , 5 ).

Next, we need to find the coordinates of F and G. It would be permissible to find the equation
of the circle and then simultaneously solve this with the equations for lines AB and AC, but we
would like to avoid equations of circles if possible. For G, observe that it is on the x axis and that
ODG is isosceles. Draw a line through O perpendicular to DG and let the intersection of this line
21
and DG be M . M will be the midpoint of DG. Now DG is simply the x axis, so M (− 10 , 0) and
21
G(− 5 , 0). We can apply similar logic to find the coordinates of F . Let X be the midpoint of EF .
Line OX will be perpendicular to EF and thus has slope − 34 . Then line OX is y = − 43 x + 45 8 .
Line AB is y = 43 x + 20. Solving these two equations, we get x = − 10 69
, y = 54
5 . Since X is the
midpoint of EF , we then get F (− 48 36
5 , 5 ).

Note that the slope of F G is − 43 , which is also the slope of BC. Thus F G is parallel to BC.
Therefore, triangles AKG and AZC are similar. So AK AG 54
AZ = AC . Since AZ = 24, AG = 5 , and
216
AC = 30, AK = .
25
Finally, as a word of warning, whenever you see tangent lines and circles, you should almost never
try using coordinates. Tangent lines and circles have many special angle and distance properties,
which coordinates are not very good for. Although it would be possible to consider equations of a
circle and line and set the discriminant of the resulting quadratic to zero, the square in b2 − 4ac
almost guarantees this to be a messy process. Furthermore, problems that extensively use the cir-
cumcircle and incircle should generally not be bashed with coordinates. The radii of these circles
is not cleanly expressed in terms of the coordinates of the vertices and will likely lead to a dead end.

4 Trickier tidbits
This section covers some of the less known formulas and tricks that can help you out while coor-
dinate bashing.

4.1 Rotation of a Point

When a point is rotated about the origin a certain number of degrees, the new point has coordi-
nates which are linear in terms of the old coordinates. This makes rotations surprisingly doable in
coordinate bashing.

Example 4.1.1 The point (x, y) is rotated θ counterclockwise. Find the coordinates of the new
point.

Solution: We use complex numbers. Suppose the original point corresponds to the complex number
reiα . Then the new point is rei(α+θ) . By Euler’s formula and trig identities, we have

rei(α+θ) = r(cos(α+θ)+i sin(α+θ) = r(cos(α) cos(θ)−sin(α) sin(θ)+i(sin(α) cos(θ)−sin(θ) cos(α)))

6
But since reiα = r cos(α) + ir sin(α), x = r cos(α) and y = r sin(α). Substituting this into the
above expression gives
x cos(θ) − y sin(θ) + i(y cos(θ) + x sin(θ))
Thus these correspond to our new coordinates of x0 = x cos(θ)−y sin(θ) and y 0 = y cos(θ)+x sin(θ).

Example 4.1.2 (Source: 1997 AIME) The sides of rectangle ABCD have lengths 10 and 11.
An equilateral triangle is drawn so that no point of the triangle lies outside ABCD. Find the
maximum possible area of such a triangle.

Solution: Let AB = 11 and BC = 10. We see that one of the vertices of the triangle must coincide
with a vertex of the rectangle. The other two vertices of the triangle should lie on the sides of the
rectangle. Let the triangle be AEF , where E lies on BC and F lies on CD. Now let A be the
origin and B(11, 0) and D(0, 10). Note that since AE = AF and 6 EAF = 60◦ , point F is really
a rotation of E about the origin by 60 degrees counterclockwise. Let BE = a and DF = b. Then
E(11, a) and F (b, 10). By the rotation formula and plugging in θ = 60◦ , we see that
√ √
11 3 11 3
b= 2 − 2 a and 10 = 2 + 21 a.
√ √
Solving gives a = 20 − 11 3. Thus the area of the triangle is 43 AE 2 and by the Pythagorean
√ √ √
theorem, AE 2 = AB 2 + BE 2 = 121 + (20 − 11 3)2 = 884 − 440 3. The answer is 221 3 − 330 .

Exercise 4.1.3 (Source: 2017 AIME I) An √ equilateral

√ triangle has one vertex on each of the
sides of a right triangle with side lengths 2 3, 5, and 37. Find the smallest possible area of the
equilateral triangle.

4.2 Shoelace Formula

Theorem. A triangle has vertices given by (x1 , y1 ), (x2 , y2 ), and (x3 , y3 ). Then the area of the
triangle is given by one half the determinant of the matrix
 
x1 y1 1
x2 y2 1
x3 y3 1

If you aren’t familiar with matrices, the value of this is (x1 (y2 − y3 ) − y1 (x2 − x3 ) + x2 y3 − x3 y2 )/2.
The proof of this theorem is fairly straightforward. Pick any two of the points and find the equation
of the line through them. Also find the distance between them. Now take the distance from the
third point to this line using the point to line formula. Since we know the base of the triangle
and the height, the area directly follows. The reader is welcome to fill in the details of the proof.
This theorem also has an extension to general polygons, but it is also permissible to break up the
polygon into triangles and apply the shoelace theorem multiple times.
√
Example √ 4.2.1 (Source: √ 2018 AMC 12A) The solutions to the equations z 2 = 4 + 4 15i and
z 2 = 2 + 2 3i, where i = −1, form the vertices of a parallelogram in the complex plane. Find
the area of this parallelogram.

Solution:
√ Using
√ √complex√number√properties √ and trigonometry, it can be found that the values of z
are 10 + i 6, 3 + i, − 10 − i 6, and − 3 − i. Since these four points form a parallelogram, we
can instead find the area of the triangle defined by three of these points and multiply by 2. The 12
in the shoelace formula and the 2 here cancel out, so by choosing the first three points above, the
answer is the determinant of the matrix
√ √ 
√10 6 1
 3 1 1
√ √
− 10 − 6 1
√ √
Working this out, we get the answer to be 6 2 − 2 10 .

7
Exercise 4.2.2 (Source: WOOT Mock AIME) Let S be the set of points (x, y) in the coordinate
plane satisfying |x| + |y| + |x − 2y| ≤ 10. Find the area of S.

4.3 Dot Product Formula

Theorem. Given two vectors ~v and w,
~ let the angle between them be θ. Then
v ·w
~ ~
cos(θ) = |~
v ||w|
~

This formula is very useful for proving perpendicularity in vector bashing, but it can also be used
in coordinate bashing, as follows.

Example 4.3.1 Let A(1, 2), B(3, 4), and C(5, 7). Find the cosine of the angle between the lines
AB and AC.

Solution: One way to do this would be to find the slopes of lines AB and AC, and then using the
−−→ −→
tangent formula derived in example 2.4.2. However, we can use vectors by treating AB and AC as
−−→ −→
vectors. Doing this, we get AB = (2, 2) and AC = (2, 3). Applying the dot product formula, we
(2,2)·(2,3) 10√
have cos(θ) = |(2,2)||(2,3)| = 2√2· 13
= √526 .

Exercise 4.3.2 (Source: Bankan Attacharya’s New Contest) Let ABCD be a quadrilateral with
AD = 6 and BC = 7. Let M and N be the midpoints of AC and BD. If M N = 4, then find the
maximum possible value of the cosine of the acute angle formed by lines AD and BC.

4.4 Making Assumptions

On many computational problems, the problem conditions do not fully specify the diagram, yet the
quantity which you are being asked to find has only one possible value. In these types of problems,
feel free to make some assumptions about the diagram to simplify your calculations! Remember,
right angles and isosceles triangles are your best friend in coordinates.

Example 4.4.1 (Source: 2009 AIME I) In parallelogram ABCD, point M is on AB so that

AM 17 AN 17
AB = 1000 and point N is on AD so that AD = 2009 . Let P be the point of intersection of AC
AC
and M N . Find AP .

Solution: Drawing the diagram, we see that the problem imposes no conditions on parallelogram
ABCD at all. So we can assume ABCD is a square. Now let AB and AD be the x and y
17 17
axes respectively. Let AB = 1. Then M ( 1000 , 0) and N (0, 2009 ). The equation of line M N is
1000x + 2009y = 17, and the equation of line AC is y = x. Solving these two equations simulta-
1
neously gives x = 177 . To find AC
AP , since A is the origin, we can instead take the ratios of their x
coordinates. Since C(1, 1), the answer is simply 177 .

Exercise 4.4.2 In triangle ABC, E is selected on AC so that AE = EC and D is selected on BC

so that BD : DC = 2 : 3. If the intersection of AD and BE is F , find AF : F D.

5 Problems
Here are some problems you can use to practice your bashing skills on! All of these problems are
doable with coordinates, though some of them may require (relatively simple) synthetic observa-
tions, and some are certainly not...elegant. The problems are arranged roughly in order of difficulty
and amount of work needed to do them.

1. (Source: 2015 AIME I) Point B lies on line segment AC with AB = 16 and BC = 4. Points
D and E lie on the same side of line AC forming equilateral triangles 4ABD and 4BCE.
Let M be the midpoint of AE, and N be the midpoint of CD. Find the area of 4BM N .

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 2. (Source: 2010 AIME II) Let ABCDEF be a regular hexagon. Let G, H, I, J, K, and L be
the midpoints of sides AB, BC, CD, DE, EF , and AF , respectively. The segments AH,
BI, CJ, DK, EL, and F G bound a smaller regular hexagon. Find the ratio of the area of
the larger hexagon to the area of the smaller hexagon.
3. (Source: 2011 AIME II) Point P lies on the diagonal AC of square ABCD with AP > CP .
Let O1 and O2 be the circumcenters of triangles ABP and CDP respectively. Given that
AB = 12 and 6 O1 P O2 = 120◦ , find AP .

4. (Source: 2018 AMC 12A) In 4P AT, 6 P = 36◦ , 6 A = 56◦ , and P A = 10. Points U and G lie
on sides T P and T A, respectively, so that P U = AG = 1. Let M and N be the midpoints of
segments P A and U G, respectively. What is the degree measure of the acute angle formed
by lines M N and P A?
5. (Source: 2017 AMC 12B) Quadrilateral ABCD has right angles at B and C, 4ABC ∼
4BCD, and AB > BC. There is a point E in the interior of ABCD such that 4ABC ∼
AB
4CEB and the area of 4AED is 17 times the area of 4CEB. What is BC ?
6. (Source: AIME compilation) Triangle ABC has AB = 13, AC = 14, and BC = 15. A line
is drawn parallel to AB such that its distance to AB is 2 and it never goes into the interior
of the triangle. Two more lines are drawn in such a way, but for AC and BC. These three
lines form a triangle. Find the area of this triangle.
7. (Source: Amy’s Geometry Problems) Triangle ABC has AB = 13, BC = 14, CA = 15. A0
and A00 are points on segment BC such that BA0 = A0 A00 = A00 C and A0 is closer than A00
to B. B 0 and B 00 are points on segment CA such that CB 0 = B 0 B 00 = B 00 A and B 0 is closer
than B 00 to C. C 0 and C 00 are points on segment AB such that AC 0 = C 0 C 00 = C 00 B and C 0
is closer than C 00 to A. Find the union of the area of triangles A0 B 0 C 0 and A00 B 00 C 00 .
8. (Source: unknown) Points K and L are marked on the median AM of triangle ABC such
that AK = KL = LM . Point P is chosen so that triangles KP L and ABC are similar in
that order. Given that points P and C are on the same side of line AM , prove that point P
lies on AC.

9. (Source: AIME compilation) In triangle ABC, BC = 13, CA = 37, AB = 40. Points D, E,

and F are selected on sides BC, CA, and AB respectively such that AD, BE, and CF concur
1 1 1
on the circumcircle of triangle ABC. Find the value of AD + BE + CF .
10. (Source: WOOT Mock AIME) Let ABC be a triangle with AB = 17, AC = 25, and BC = 28
and incenter I. Point D is on the circumcircle of triangle ABC such that 6 ADI = 90◦ .
Extend AI to meet BC at E. Find sin 6 IDE.

6 Extras
6.1 Hints for Problems
1. Use the perpendicular bisectors of AB and BC to find points D and E. Use the shoelace
formula to get the answer.
2. Set the center of the hexagon to be the origin, and use the 30-60-90 triangles to easily compute
the relevant coordinates.

3. Triangles ABP and CDP both have two sides whose line equations can be expressed simply
in terms of the location of P . Use these sides to get the two circumcenters and observe the
isosceles triangle.
4. Let P A be the x axis. Using the product to sum trig identities, get the slope of line P A in
terms of some tangent.

5. Let AB and BC be the two axes, assume that CD = 1 and let BC = a. E must lie on a
semicircle with diameter BC. Use the shoelace formula to get the areas of the two triangles.

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 6. The tricky part is figuring out the equations of the three lines. Draw one of the lines and the
corresponding side of ABC so they intersect the x axis and draw the length of the distance.
Can you use similar triangles to figure out the difference in their x intercepts?
7. Bash out the equations of all the relevant lines, then use shoelace. Or just ask Amy. I don’t
know which one would be easier.
8. Using our classic triangle coordinate system, work out the side lengths of triangle KP L.
Draw circles with appropriate radius centered at K and L and show that their intersection
is on AM .
9. You just have to work out all the relevant coordinates for this one. I do have to warn you
though, it gets pretty ugly.
10. Write down the general coordinates of a point on the circumcircle, find all relevant coordi-
nates, and solve for D. At the end, use the dot product formula.

6.2 FAQ
I was able to solve some AMC/AIME problems with coordinates, but it took me way
too long. How do I fix this? The only fix to this is practice, and more specifically becoming
comfortable with equations of lines and circles and simplifying algebraic expressions. It’s also a
good idea, if you’re doing computation problems, to estimate the numerical values of coordinates
of some points halfway through the problem to see if they are in the right ballpark.

What audience is this handout intended for? Anyone who is interested in math contests,
really. Of course, IMO gold medalists may not find this very useful, and those who are just starting
to learn geometry would benefit more from learning basic synthetic geometry techniques. But the
problem difficulty in this handout mostly ranges from mid-late AMC to late AIME.

What’s with the absurdly large amount of recent AMC/AIME problems? One reason
is because these problems are in my memory, and I remember how I did them with coordinates.
Additionally, I wanted to demonstrate the abundance of geometry problems which can be solved
with coordinates.

I’ve seen all these problems before. What’s the point of this handout? Coordinate bash-
ing provides a completely different approach from the classic synthetic methods you probably used
to solve many of these problems. Using coordinates is almost like solving a completely new problem.

What’s your name? Didn’t you read the title? It says Anon E. Mouse.

I tried to coordinate bash every geometry problem on AIME and ended up getting
none of them. Can I get a refund for this handout? No, and you’re now banned from
reading any further handouts.

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