I tried to read SpectraSynth's answer, and I was unable to make sense of it. I arrived at a different answer than SpectraSynth, so I will present my method, and you can figure out which answer is the correct answer.
Our ultimate goal is to find the area of Rectangle ABCD. If we knew the length and the width of the rectange, then finding the area would be trivial because \(A_{\text{rect}} = l \times w\) where \(l\) is the length and \(w\) is the width. As such, I will label \(AB = l\) and \(AD = w\).
By definition, we know that Rectangle ABCD is a quadrilateral with four right angles. This observation lead me to realize that \(\triangle \text{ABE} \text{ and } \triangle \text{ADF} \text{ and } \triangle \text{ECF}\) are all right triangles. Because they are right triangles, finding a relationship between the lengths of the triangle legs and the area will be easier to deduce. \(\overline{BE}\) is the height of \(\triangle \text{ABE}\) and \(\overline{\text{DF}}\) is the height of \(\triangle \text{ADF}\). I will let \(BE = x \text{ and } AD = y\). With this information, I can already generate two equations that relate the triangle legs and the area. I simplified these equations as much as I could.
\(A_{\triangle \text{ABE}} = \frac{1}{2} * \text{AB} * \text{BE} \\ 5 = \frac{1}{2} * l * x \\ lx = 10\) | \(A_{\triangle \text{ADF}} = \frac{1}{2} * \text{AD} * \text{DF} \\ 5 = \frac{1}{2} * w * y \\ wy = 10\) |
We can employ a similar strategy for \(\triangle \text{ECF}\). However, it is almost always best to relate new variables to information that you already have. Because figure ABCD is a rectangle, we can relate the \(\text{EC} \text{ and } \text{EF}\) to other lengths we already know.
\(\text{BC} = \text{AD} \text{ by Property of Rectangles}\\ \text{BE} + \text{EC} = \text{AD} \text{ by Segment Addition Postulate}\\ x + \text{EC} = w \\ \text{EC} = w - x\) | \(\text{CD} = \text{AB} \text{ by Property of Rectangle} \\ \text{DF} + \text{CF} = \text{AB} \text{ by Segment Addition Postulate} \\ y + \text{CF} = l \\ \text{CF} = l - y\) |
Now that we have related it to variables we have already defined, we can use the area formula for rigth triangles to find more information.
\(A_{\triangle{\text{ECF}}} = \frac{1}{2} * \text{EC} * \text{CF} \\ 10 = \frac{1}{2}(w - x)(l - y) \\ 20 = lw - wy - lx + xy\)
We can already simplify this complicated equation by recognizing that we know from previous equations that \(lx = 10 \text{ and } wy = 10\).
\(20 = lw - 10 - 10 + xy \\ lw + xy = 40\)
This equation is close to solved because we only need to solve for \(lw\), which is equivalent to the area of Rectangle ABCD. We can use previous equations to substitute in an expression for \(xy\). We can multiply previous equations together to find a relationship in which we can ultimately use substitution.
\(lx = 10; wy = 10 \\ lxwy = 100 \\ xy = \frac{100}{lw}\)
Now, we can substitute this relationship into the equation and solve for \(lw\).
\(lw + xy = 40; lw = \frac{100}{lw} \\ lw + \frac{100}{lw} = 40 \\ (lw)^2 + 100 = 40lw \\ (lw)^2 - 40(lw) + 100 = 0\)
The equation simplifies to a quadratic equation, which I will solve with the trusty quadratic formula.
\({\color{red}1}(lw)^2 {\color{blue} - 40}(lw) {\color{green}+ 100} = 0 \\ lw_{1, 2}=\frac{-({\color{blue}-40}) \pm \sqrt{({\color{blue}-40})^2 - 4 * {\color{red}1} * {\color{green}100}}}{2 * {\color{red}1}} \\ lw_{1, 2} = \frac{40 \pm \sqrt{1600 - 400}}{2} \\ lw_{1, 2} = 20 \pm \frac{20\sqrt{3}}{2} \\ lw = 20 - 10\sqrt{3} \text{ or } lw = 20 + 10\sqrt{3} \\ lw \approx 2.6795 \text{ or } lw \approx 37.3205\)
The quadratic yields two different answers, and they both seem logical. Are there two answers? Upon studying the diagram carefully, I rejected \(lw = 20 - 10\sqrt{3}\) because Rectangle ABCD has a minimum area of \(5 + 5 + 10 = 20\) because the rectangle contains three triangles of which we know the area and one non-right triangle of which we do not know the area. Since \(20 - 10\sqrt{3} < 20\), I rejected this answer.
Therefore, \(A_{\text{Rectangle ABCD}} = lw = 20 + 10\sqrt{3} \approx 37.3205\)
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