IMO Geometry Questions

Level: Intermediate Ref No: M01 Puzz Points: 10

The “star” octagon shown in the diagram is beautifully symmetrical and the centre of the star is at
the centre of the circle. If angle NAE = 110°, how big is the angle DNA?

Level: Intermediate Ref No: M03 Puzz Points: 10

A quadrilateral ABCD has sides AB, BC, CD, DA of length x, y, z and t, respectively. The diagonals AC
and BD cross at right angles. Prove that:

𝑥2 + 𝑧2 = 𝑦2 + 𝑡2

Level: Intermediate Ref No: M08 Puzz Points: 15

Triangle ABG has a right angle at B.

Points C and E lie on side AG and points D and F lie on side BG so that the six line segments AB, BC,
CD, DE, EF and FG are equal in length. Calculate the angle AGB.

Level: Intermediate Ref No: M12 Puzz Points: 18

The triangle ABC is right-angled at A, with AB = 6cm and AC = 8cm. Points X and Y are situated on BC
such that AB = AY and AX = XC. Two isosceles triangles ABY and AXC are thus created. These triangles
overlap, forming the region AXY. Calculate the area of this region.

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Level: Intermediate Ref No: M13 Puzz Points: 20

A quadrilateral is enclosed by four straight lines with equations:

2𝑦 = 𝑥 + 4
𝑦 = 2𝑥 − 4
2𝑦 = 𝑥 − 2
𝑦 = 2𝑥 + 2

Calculate the area of this quadrilateral.

Level: Intermediate Ref No: M15 Puzz Points: 20

A square is constructed inside a rectangle of length a and width b, with the square touching the
diagonal of the rectangle as shown in the diagram. If the square has side h, prove that:

1 1 1
= +
ℎ 𝑎 𝑏

Level: Intermediate Ref No: M18 Puzz Points: 23

The cross section of a tunnel is a circular arc, as shown in the diagram. The maximum height of the
tunnel is 10 feet. A vertical strut 9 feet high supports the roof of the tunnel from a point 27 feet
along the ground from the side. Calculate the width of the tunnel at ground level.

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Level: Intermediate Ref No: M19 Puzz Points: 10

A rectangular piece of paper is cut into two pieces by a straight line passing through one corner, as
shown. Given that area X : area Y = 2:7, what is the value of the ratio a:b?

Level: Intermediate Ref No: M21 Puzz Points: 10

In the diagram, rectangles ABCD and AZYX are congruent, and ∠𝐴𝐷𝐵 = 70°. Find ∠𝐵𝑀𝑋.

Level: Intermediate Ref No: M26 Puzz Points: 15

In triangle ABC, ∠𝐴𝐵𝐶 is a right angle. Points P and Q lie on AC; BP is perpendicular to AC; BQ bisects
∠𝐴𝐵𝑃. Prove that CB = CQ.

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Level: Intermediate Ref No: M28 Puzz Points: 15

A circle is inscribed in a square and a rectangle is placed inside the square but outside the circle. Two
sides of the rectangle lie along sides of the square and one vertex lies on the circle, as shown. The
rectangle is twice as high as it is wide.

What is the ratio of the area of the square to the area of the rectangle?

Level: Intermediate Ref No: M33 Puzz Points: 20

Two circles are drawn in a rectangle of 6 by 4, such that the larger circle touches three sides of the
rectangle, whereas the smaller one only touches 2. Determine the radius of the smaller circle.

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Level: Intermediate Ref No: M34 Puzz Points: 20

The nonagon shown shaded in the diagram has been made by removing three pieces from an
equilateral triangle of side 12. All nine edges of the nonagon are parallel to sides of the triangle.
Three edges have lengths 1, 2 and 3 as shown.

Calculate the length of the perimeter of the nonagon.

Level: Intermediate Ref No: M39 Puzz Points: 10

The diagram shows a square ABCD of side 10 units. Line segments AP, AQ, AR and AS divide the
square into five regions of equal area, as shown. Calculate the length of QR.

Level: Intermediate Ref No: M40 Puzz Points: 10

How many right-angled triangles can be made by joining three vertices of a cube?

Level: Intermediate Ref No: M41 Puzz Points: 13

In a quadrilateral ABCD, AB = BC, ∠𝐵𝐴𝐶 = 60°, ∠𝐶𝐴𝐷 = 40°, AC and BD cross at X and ∠𝐵𝑋𝐶 =
100°.

Calculate ∠𝐵𝐷𝐶.

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Level: Intermediate Ref No: M45 Puzz Points: 15

The diagram shows four circles of radius 1 placed inside a square so that they are tangential to the
sides of the square at the midpoints of the sides, and to each other.

Calculate the shaded area.

Level: Intermediate Ref No: M47 Puzz Points: 18

The diagram shows a rectangle ABCD inscribed inside a triangle PQR. The side, AB, of the rectangle is
one third of the perpendicular height of the triangle from P to QR. What is the ratio of the area of
the rectangle to the area of the triangle?

Level: Intermediate Ref No: M50 Puzz Points: 20

The diagram shows a circle of radius 2 and a square. The circle touches two sides of the square and
passes through one corner of the square. The area of the region shaded black (inside the square but
outside the circle) is X and the area of the region shaded grey (inside the circle but outside the
square) is Y.

What is the value of Y – X?

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Level: Intermediate Ref No: M52 Puzz Points: 20

The diagram shows a triangle in which the altitude from A divides the base, BC, in the ratio 18 : 7.

Find the ratio in which the base is divided by a line parallel to the altitude which cuts the triangle
into two equal areas.

Level: Intermediate Ref No: M53 Puzz Points: 23

The coordinates of three vertices of a cube are (4, 0, 3), (6, 4, 1) and (2, 8, 5). Find the coordinates of
a fourth vertex.

Level: Intermediate Ref No: M56 Puzz Points: 10

The diagram shows a regular pentagon 𝐶𝐷𝐸𝐹𝐺 inside a trapezium 𝐴𝐵𝐶𝐷.

Prove that 𝐴𝐵 = 2 × 𝐶𝐷.

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Level: Intermediate Ref No: M58 Puzz Points: 10

The diagram shows nine 1cm × 1cm squares and a circle. The circle passes through the centres of the
four corner squares.

What is the area of the shaded region – inside two squares but outside the circle?

Level: Intermediate Ref No: M62 Puzz Points: 15

The diagram shows two equilateral triangles. The angle marked 𝑥° are equal.

Prove that 𝑥 > 30.

Level: Intermediate Ref No: M64 Puzz Points: 15

A square just fits within a circle, which itself just fits within another square, as shown in the diagram.
Find the ratio of the two shaded areas.

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Level: Intermediate Ref No: M69 Puzz Points: 20

The diagrams show a rectangle that just fits inside right-angled triangle ABC in two different ways.
One side of the triangle has length a.

Prove that the perimeter of the rectangle is 2a.

Level: Intermediate Ref No: M71 Puzz Points: 23

Three circles touch the same straight line and touch each other, as shown.

Prove that the radii a, b, and c, where c is smallest, satisfy the equation:

1 1 1
+ =
√𝑎 √𝑏 √𝑐

Level: Intermediate Ref No: M74 Puzz Points: 10

A hexagon is made by cutting a small equilateral triangle from each corner of a larger equilateral
triangle. The sides of the smaller triangles have lengths 1, 2 and 3 units. The lengths of the
perimeters of the hexagon and the original triangle are in the ratio 5:7.

What fraction of the area of the original triangle remains?

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Level: Intermediate Ref No: M75 Puzz Points: 10

In the rectangle ABCD the midpoint of AB is M and AB : AD = 2 : 1. The point X is such that triangle
MDX is equilateral, with X and A lying on opposite sides of the line MD.

Find the value of ∠𝑋𝐶𝐷.

Level: Intermediate Ref No: M77 Puzz Points: 13

A kite has sides AB and AD of length 25cm and sides CB and CD of length 39cm. The perpendicular
distance from B to AD is 24cm. The perpendicular distance from B to CD is h cm.

Find the value of h.

Level: Intermediate Ref No: M78 Puzz Points: 13

A regular tetrahedron ABCD has edges of length 2 units. The midpoint of the edge AB is M and the
midpoint of the edge CD is N.

Find the exact length of the segment MN.

Level: Intermediate Ref No: M79 Puzz Points: 15

A regular octagon with sides of length a is inscribed in a square with sides of length 1, as shown.

Prove that 𝑎2 + 2𝑎 = 1.

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Level: Intermediate Ref No: M81 Puzz Points: 15

A triangle is bounded by the lines whose equations are 𝑦 = −𝑥 − 1, 𝑦 = 2𝑥 − 1 and 𝑦 = 𝑘, where 𝑘

For what values of 𝑘 is the area of the triangle less than 2008?

Level: Intermediate Ref No: M82 Puzz Points: 18

Two congruent rectangles have a common vertex and overlap as shown in the diagram.

What is the total shaded area?

Level: Intermediate Ref No: M85 Puzz Points: 20

The diagram shows a regular pentagon ABCDE. A circle is drawn such that AB is a tangent to the
circle at A and CD is a tangent to the circle at D. The side AE of the pentagon is extended to meet the
circumference of the circle at F.

Prove that DE = DF.

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Level: Intermediate Ref No: M87 Puzz Points: 20

A circle is inscribed in a right-angled triangle, as shown. The point of contact of the circle and the
hypotenuse divides the hypotenuse into lengths 𝑥 and 𝑦.

Prove that the area of the triangle is equal to 𝑥𝑦.

Level: Intermediate Ref No: M88 Puzz Points: 23

An ant lives on the surface of a cuboid which has points X, Y and Z on three adjacent faces.

The ant travels between X, Y and Z along the shortest possible path between each pair of points. The
angles 𝑥°, 𝑦° and 𝑧° are the angles between the parts of the ant’s path, as shown.

Prove that 𝑥 + 𝑦 + 𝑧 = 270.

Level: Intermediate Ref No: M91 Puzz Points: 10

The boundary of a shaded figure consists of four semicircular arcs whose radii are all different. The
centre of each arc lies on the line AB, which is 10cm long.

What is the length of the perimeter of the figure.

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Level: Intermediate Ref No: M93 Puzz Points: 10

In a rectangle ABCD, the side AB has length √2 and the side AD has length 1. Let the circle with
centre B and passing through C meet AB at X.

Find ∠𝐴𝐷𝑋 (in degrees).

Level: Intermediate Ref No: M97 Puzz Points: 15

In the diagram, ABCD is a rectangle with 𝐴𝐵 = 16𝑐𝑚 and 𝐵𝐶 = 12𝑐𝑚. Points E and F lie on sides AB
and CD so that AECF is a rhombus.

What is the length of EF?

Level: Intermediate Ref No: M99 Puzz Points: 18

The diagram shows a triangle PTU inscribed in a square PQRS. Each of the marked angles at P is
equal to 30°.

Prove that the area of the triangle PTU is one third of the area of the square PQRS.

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Level: Intermediate Ref No: M104 Puzz Points: 20

In a trapezium 𝐴𝐵𝐶𝐷 the sides 𝐴𝐵 and 𝐷𝐶 are parallel and ∠𝐵𝐴𝐷 = ∠𝐴𝐵𝐶 < 90°. Point P lies on
𝐴𝐵 with ∠𝐶𝑃𝐷 = ∠𝐵𝐴𝐷.

Prove that 𝑃𝐶 2 + 𝑃𝐷 2 = 𝐴𝐵 × 𝐷𝐶.

Level: Intermediate Ref No: M106 Puzz Points: 23

In the figure, p, q, r and s are the lengths of the four arcs which together form the circumference of
the circle.

Find, in simplified form, an expression for s in terms of p, q and r.

Level: Intermediate Ref No: M108 Puzz Points: 10

The diagram shows a square ABCD and an equilateral triangle ABE. The point F lies on BC so that EC =
EF.

Calculate the angle BEF.

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Level: Intermediate Ref No: M111 Puzz Points: 13

A square sheet of paper ABCD is folded along FG, as shown, so that the corner B is folded onto the
midpoint M of CD.

Prove that the sides of triangle GCM have lengths in the ratio 3: 4: 5.

Level: Intermediate Ref No: M113 Puzz Points: 15

The diagram shows a triangle and two of its angle bisectors.

What is the value of x?

Level: Intermediate Ref No: M115 Puzz Points: 15

The diagram shows a quarter-circle with centre O and two semicircular arcs with diameters OA and
OB.

Calculate the ratio of the area of the region shaded grey to the area of the region shaded black.

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Level: Intermediate Ref No: M116 Puzz Points: 18

The diagram shows three touching circles, whose radii are a, b and c, and whose centres are at the
vertices Q, R and S of a rectangle QRST. The fourth vertex T of the rectangle lies on the circle with
centre S.

Find the ratio 𝑎: 𝑏: 𝑐.

Level: Intermediate Ref No: M119 Puzz Points: 20

The diagram shows a regular heptagon, a regular decagon and a regular 15-gon with an edge in
common.

Find the size of angle XYZ.

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Level: Intermediate Ref No: M121 Puzz Points: 20

The diameter AD of a circle has length 4. The points B and C lie on the circle, as shown, so that 𝐴𝐵 =
𝐵𝐶 = 1.

Find the length of 𝐶𝐷.

Level: Intermediate Ref No: M122 Puzz Points: 23

The diagram shows a rectangle divided into eight regions by four straight lines. Three of the regions
have areas 1, 2 and 3, as shown.

What is the area of the shaded quadrilateral?

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Level: Intermediate Ref No: M125 Puzz Points: 10

When two congruent isosceles triangles are joined to form a parallelogram, as shown in the first
diagram, the perimeter of the parallelogram is 3cm longer than the perimeter of one of the
triangles.

When the same two triangles are joined to form a rhombus, as shown in the second diagram, the
perimeter of the rhombus is 7cm longer than the perimeter of one of the triangles.

What is the perimeter of one of the triangles?

Level: Intermediate Ref No: M126 Puzz Points: 10

In triangle 𝐴𝐵𝐶, angle 𝐵 is a right angle and 𝑋 is the point on 𝐵𝐶 so that 𝐵𝑋: 𝑋𝐶 = 5: 4. Also, the
length of 𝐴𝐵 is three times the length of 𝐶𝑋 and the area of triangle 𝐶𝑋𝐴 is 54cm2. Calculate the
length of the perimeter of triangle 𝐶𝑋𝐴.

Level: Intermediate Ref No: M128 Puzz Points: 13

In the diagram, O is the centre of the circle and the straight lines AOBP and RQP meet at P. The
length of PQ is equal to the radius of the circle. Prove that

∠𝐴𝑂𝑅 = 3 × ∠𝐵𝑂𝑄

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Level: Intermediate Ref No: M131 Puzz Points: 15

The region shown shaded in the diagram is bounded by three touching circles of radius 1 and the
tangent to two of the circles.

Calculate the perimeter of the shaded region.

Level: Intermediate Ref No: M132 Puzz Points: 15

The shape shown in the diagram (not to scale) has a perimeter of length 72cm and an area equal to
147𝑐𝑚2 . Calculate the value of 𝑎.

Level: Intermediate Ref No: M134 Puzz Points: 18

The rectangle 𝑃𝑄𝑅𝑆 represents a sheet of A4 paper, which means that 𝑃𝑄: 𝑃𝑆 = √2: 1.

The rectangle is folded, as shown, so that 𝑄 comes to a point 𝑋 on 𝑆𝑅 and the fold line 𝑃𝑌 passes
though the corner 𝑃. Taking the length of 𝑃𝑆 to be 1 unit, find the lengths of the three sides of the
triangle 𝑅𝑋𝑌.

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Level: Intermediate Ref No: M140 Puzz Points: 23

In the diagram, 𝑋 is the point of intersection of lines drawn from the corners 𝐶 and 𝐷 of square
𝐴𝐵𝐶𝐷 to the midpoints 𝑀 and 𝑁 of sides 𝐴𝐵 and 𝐵𝐶. Prove that the triangle 𝑀𝑋𝐷 is right-angled
with sides in the ratio 3: 4: 5.

Level: Intermediate Ref No: M141 Puzz Points: 23

A sandcastle has a cylindrical base, on top of which is a second smaller cylinder, with a third even
smaller cylinder on top. The three circular cylinders have the same height, and their radii are in the
ratio 3: 2: 1. The height of each cylinder is equal to the radius of the smallest cylinder.

Exactly 24 full buckets of sand were used to construct the sandcastle. The bucket is in the form of a
frustum (part of a cone, as shown), whose larger radius equals its perpendicular height, and is twice
its smaller radius.

Find the ratio of the total height of the sandcastle to that of the bucket.

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