AMC8 2020 8, Problem 24

A large square region is paved with $n^2$ gray square tiles, each measuring $s$ inches on a side. A border $d$ inches wide surrounds each tile. The figure below shows the case for $n=3$. When $n=24$, the $576$ gray tiles cover $64\%$ of the area of the large square region. What is the ratio $\frac{d}{s}$ for this larger value of $n?$ [asy] draw((0,0)--(13,0)--(13,13)--(0,13)--cycle); filldraw((1,1)--(4,1)--(4,4)--(1,4)--cycle, mediumgray); filldraw((1,5)--(4,5)--(4,8)--(1,8)--cycle, mediumgray); filldraw((1,9)--(4,9)--(4,12)--(1,12)--cycle, mediumgray); filldraw((5,1)--(8,1)--(8,4)--(5,4)--cycle, mediumgray); filldraw((5,5)--(8,5)--(8,8)--(5,8)--cycle, mediumgray); filldraw((5,9)--(8,9)--(8,12)--(5,12)--cycle, mediumgray); filldraw((9,1)--(12,1)--(12,4)--(9,4)--cycle, mediumgray); filldraw((9,5)--(12,5)--(12,8)--(9,8)--cycle, mediumgray); filldraw((12,12)--(12,9)--(9,9)--(9,12)--cycle, mediumgray); [/asy]

Solution: The area of the shaded region is $(24s)^2$. To find the area of the large square, we note that there is a $d$-inch border between each of the $23$ pairs of consecutive squares, as well as from between first/last squares and the large square, for a total of $23+2 = 25$ times the length of the border, i.e. $25d$. Adding this to the total length of the consecutive squares, which is $24s$, the side length of the large square is $(24s+25d)$, yielding the equation $\frac{(24s)^2}{(24s+25d)^2}=\frac{64}{100}$. Taking the square root of both sides (and using the fact that lengths are non-negative) gives $\frac{24s}{24s+25d}=\frac{8}{10} = \frac{4}{5}$, and cross-multiplying now gives $120s = 96s + 100d \Rightarrow 24s = 100d \Rightarrow \frac{d}{s} = \frac{24}{100} = \fbox{\frac6{25}}$. Note: Once we obtain $\tfrac{24s}{24s+25d} = \tfrac{4}{5},$ to ease computation, we may take the reciprocal of both sides to yield $\tfrac{24s+25d}{24s} = 1 + \tfrac{25d}{24s} = \tfrac{5}{4},$ so $\tfrac{25d}{24s} = \tfrac{1}{4}.$ Multiplying both sides by $\tfrac{24}{25}$ yields the same answer as before.

Answer: \frac6{25}