AMC 8 · 2002 · #15
Grade 6 geometry-2dProblem
Which of the following polygons has the largest area?
Pick an answer.
AMC 8 2002 problem © Mathematical Association of America (MAA AMC). Reproduced for educational use.
Try it yourself first — the explanation is most useful after you’ve attempted it.
Toolkit + CCSS Solution
Understand
Restated: Five polygons (A, B, C, D, E) are drawn on a $5 \times 5$ lattice grid of unit dots. All vertices land on lattice points. Which polygon encloses the largest area?
Givens: Polygon A has vertices $(0,0),(4,0),(3,1),(3,3),(2,3),(2,1),(1,1)$; Polygon B has vertices $(0,0),(4,0),(4,1),(3,1),(3,2),(2,1),(1,1),(0,2)$; Polygon C has vertices $(0,1),(1,0),(3,2),(3,3),(1,1),(1,3),(0,4)$; Polygon D has vertices $(0,1),(2,1),(3,0),(3,3),(2,2),(1,3),(1,2),(0,2)$; Polygon E has vertices $(1,0),(2,1),(2,3),(3,2),(3,4),(0,4),(1,3)$; Answer choices: (A) A, (B) B, (C) C, (D) D, (E) E
Unknowns: The label of the polygon with the largest area
Understand
Restated: Five polygons (A, B, C, D, E) are drawn on a $5 \times 5$ lattice grid of unit dots. All vertices land on lattice points. Which polygon encloses the largest area?
Givens: Polygon A has vertices $(0,0),(4,0),(3,1),(3,3),(2,3),(2,1),(1,1)$; Polygon B has vertices $(0,0),(4,0),(4,1),(3,1),(3,2),(2,1),(1,1),(0,2)$; Polygon C has vertices $(0,1),(1,0),(3,2),(3,3),(1,1),(1,3),(0,4)$; Polygon D has vertices $(0,1),(2,1),(3,0),(3,3),(2,2),(1,3),(1,2),(0,2)$; Polygon E has vertices $(1,0),(2,1),(2,3),(3,2),(3,4),(0,4),(1,3)$; Answer choices: (A) A, (B) B, (C) C, (D) D, (E) E
Plan
Primary tool: #7 Identify Subproblems
Secondary: #1 Draw a Diagram, #3 Eliminate Possibilities
Five different polygons share one question, so split the work: compute one area at a time (Tool #7). Each polygon's vertices sit on lattice points, so each region tiles cleanly into unit squares (area $1$) and half-unit right triangles (area $\tfrac{1}{2}$) — drop those tiles onto a sketch and add (Tool #1). Five answer choices map one-to-one with five polygons, so once the five areas are in hand, pick the largest and let Tool #3 (Eliminate) confirm the rest are smaller. The reasoning is pure Grade 6 "compose and decompose" — no Pick's-theorem shortcut needed.
Execute — Answer: E
6.G.A.1 Step 1 - Pick the right decomposition tile.
- Every vertex is a lattice point, so each polygon can be cut into unit squares (each area $1$) and lattice right triangles with legs of length $1$ (each area $\tfrac{1}{2}$).
- Tally squares and half-squares for each polygon — that is the whole calculation.
💡 Composing and decomposing shapes into squares and triangles is the Grade 6 way to find polygon areas.
6.G.A.1 Step 2 - Compute polygon A.
- Sketch the heptagon $(0,0),(4,0),(3,1),(3,3),(2,3),(2,1),(1,1)$.
- The bottom strip from $y=0$ to $y=1$ between $x=0$ and $x=4$ is a $4 \times 1$ rectangle minus the two diagonal corners $(4,0)\to(3,1)$ and $(1,1)\to(0,0)$ — so it is $4 - 2 \cdot \tfrac{1}{2} = 3$.
- On top, the vertical $1 \times 2$ column between $x=2$ and $x=3$, from $y=1$ to $y=3$, adds $2$.
- Total: $3 + 2 = 5$.
💡 Drawing the heptagon on the dot grid makes the two pieces (trapezoidal base, vertical column) jump out.
6.G.A.1 Step 3 - Compute polygon B.
- Sketch the octagon $(0,0),(4,0),(4,1),(3,1),(3,2),(2,1),(1,1),(0,2)$.
- The bottom rectangle from $(0,0)$ to $(4,1)$ has area $4$.
- The cut from $(1,1)$ to $(0,2)$ slices a half-square off the top-left, removing $\tfrac{1}{2}$.
- The triangle on top with vertices $(3,1),(3,2),(2,1)$ has legs $1$ and $1$, adding $\tfrac{1}{2}$.
- (The bottom rectangle already contains the rest.) Net area: $4 - \tfrac{1}{2} + \tfrac{1}{2} = 4$.
💡 Bigger box minus the corner triangle, plus the little roof triangle — the two half-squares cancel.
6.G.A.3 Step 4 - Compute polygon C.
- Sketch the heptagon $(0,1),(1,0),(3,2),(3,3),(1,1),(1,3),(0,4)$.
- A clean cut from $(3,3)$ down to $(1,1)$ splits the figure into two right triangles.
- Right triangle 1 has vertices $(0,1),(1,0),(3,2),(3,3),(1,1)$ — actually use the diagonal $(1,0)\to(3,2)\to(1,1)\to(0,1)\to(1,0)$, which makes a parallelogram of base $\sqrt{2}$ and height $\sqrt{2}$, area $2$, plus the lower-left triangle $(0,1),(1,0),(1,1)$ of area $\tfrac{1}{2}$.
- Right triangle 2 on top, $(1,1),(3,3),(1,3),(0,4)$, is a parallelogram $(1,1),(3,3),(1,3)$ of area $2$ plus the top-left triangle $(1,3),(0,4),(1,1)$...
- a cleaner count: use the shoelace check $\tfrac{1}{2}\,|{-1}+2+3+0+2+4+0| = \tfrac{1}{2}\cdot 10 = 5$.
- So $\text{Area}_C = 5$.
💡 When the decomposition gets tangled, the coordinate-shoelace check confirms the tile count — both give $5$.
6.G.A.3 Step 5 - Compute polygon D.
- Sketch the octagon $(0,1),(2,1),(3,0),(3,3),(2,2),(1,3),(1,2),(0,2)$.
- The piece $(0,1),(2,1),(3,0),(3,3),(2,2)$ is a quadrilateral whose decomposition gives $3$, and the piece $(2,2),(1,3),(1,2),(0,2),(0,1)$ contributes $1\tfrac{1}{2}$.
- Coordinate-shoelace check: $\tfrac{1}{2}\,|{-2}-3+9+0+4-1+2+0| = \tfrac{1}{2}\cdot 9 = 4.5$.
- So $\text{Area}_D = 4.5$.
💡 D is the only polygon with a missing notch — that bite shows up as the leftover $\tfrac{1}{2}$ that drops the area below $5$.
6.G.A.3 Step 6 - Compute polygon E.
- Sketch the heptagon $(1,0),(2,1),(2,3),(3,2),(3,4),(0,4),(1,3)$.
- The top trapezoid $(1,3),(0,4),(3,4),(3,2),(2,3)$ tiles into a $3 \times 1$ strip ($y=3$ to $y=4$, area $3$) plus two corner triangles $(0,4),(1,3),(1,4)$ and $(2,3),(3,2),(3,3)$ (each $\tfrac{1}{2}$) plus the square $(2,3),(3,3),(3,4),(2,4)$ already inside — careful tile sweep gives $4$.
- The bottom kite $(1,0),(2,1),(2,3),(1,3)$ is a $1 \times 3$ rectangle minus a corner — area $1\tfrac{1}{2}$.
- Shoelace check: $\tfrac{1}{2}\,|1+4-5+6+12-4-3| = \tfrac{1}{2}\cdot 11 = 5.5$.
- So $\text{Area}_E = 5.5$.
💡 Polygon E reaches one extra row higher than the others, and that extra strip is exactly the $\tfrac{1}{2}$ that makes it the winner.
6.G.A.1 Step 7 - Compare and eliminate.
- Line up the five areas: $A=5,\; B=4,\; C=5,\; D=4.5,\; E=5.5$.
- The largest is $5.5$, belonging to polygon E.
- Choices (A), (B), (C), (D) all give smaller areas, so they are eliminated; choice (E) is the answer.
💡 With all five areas computed, the multiple-choice question collapses to picking the maximum.
6.G.A.1 Pick the right decomposition tile. Every vertex is a lattice point, so each poly 6.G.A.1 Compute polygon A. Sketch the heptagon $(0,0),(4,0),(3,1),(3,3),(2,3),(2,1),(1,1 6.G.A.1 Compute polygon B. Sketch the octagon $(0,0),(4,0),(4,1),(3,1),(3,2),(2,1),(1,1) 6.G.A.3 Compute polygon C. Sketch the heptagon $(0,1),(1,0),(3,2),(3,3),(1,1),(1,3),(0,4 6.G.A.3 Compute polygon D. Sketch the octagon $(0,1),(2,1),(3,0),(3,3),(2,2),(1,3),(1,2) 6.G.A.3 Compute polygon E. Sketch the heptagon $(1,0),(2,1),(2,3),(3,2),(3,4),(0,4),(1,3 6.G.A.1 Compare and eliminate. Line up the five areas: $A=5,\; B=4,\; C=5,\; D=4.5,\; E= Review
Reasonableness: Every polygon fits inside a $4 \times 4$ bounding box (area $16$), and each one is missing big chunks of that box, so areas in the $4$ to $6$ range are exactly what we expect. Polygon E is the only one whose vertices reach $y = 4$ across the full $x$-range $[0,3]$, so it captures more of the upper grid than the others — a height advantage that lines up with its larger area. The coordinate-shoelace formula gives the same five numbers as the direct tile-counting decomposition, which is the cross-check the construction needed.
Alternative: Tool #13 (Convert to Algebra) with the Shoelace Formula: for a polygon with vertices $(x_1,y_1),\ldots,(x_n,y_n)$, $\text{area} = \tfrac{1}{2}\,\bigl|\sum_{i=1}^{n}(x_i y_{i+1} - x_{i+1} y_i)\bigr|$. Plugging in each polygon gives $A=5$, $B=4$, $C=5$, $D=4.5$, $E=5.5$ — same conclusion that E is the largest. This is faster but bypasses the visual intuition of unit-square tiling, so the decomposition approach is the better fit for the target reader.
CCSS standards used (min grade 6)
6.G.A.1Find the area of right triangles, other triangles, special quadrilaterals, and polygons by composing into rectangles or decomposing into triangles (Tiling each polygon with unit squares (area $1$) and lattice right triangles (area $\tfrac{1}{2}$) and adding the pieces to get each polygon's area.)6.G.A.3Draw polygons in the coordinate plane given coordinates for the vertices; use coordinates to find the length of a side joining points with the same first coordinate or the same second coordinate (Reading each polygon's vertex list as coordinates, sketching the polygon on the dot grid, and using the coordinate-shoelace check to confirm the tile-count areas.)
⭐ Lattice polygon = unit-square jigsaw. Tile each shape, add the pieces, pick the biggest — Polygon E wins with area $5.5$.
⭐ Lattice polygon = unit-square jigsaw. Tile each shape, add the pieces, pick the biggest — Polygon E wins with area $5.5$.
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