AMC 10 Step by Step

2020 AMC 10B Problem 14

P11-15~5 minPrint

As shown in the figure below, six semicircles lie in the interior of a regular hexagon with side length 2 so that the diameters of the semicircles coincide with the sides of the hexagon. What is the area of the shaded region — inside the hexagon but outside all of the semicircles?

figure

Log in to save your progress.
Show solution without answering

Key insight

Neighboring semicircles cross halfway between the center and each corner. The shaded part is six small triangles of side 1, each missing a curved bite.

Solution

Call the center of the hexagon OO. The hexagon has side 22, and each semicircle has radius 11 and is centered at the midpoint of a side.

1. Split the hexagon. Draw lines from OO to all six corners. This cuts the hexagon into 66 equilateral triangles of side 22. The picture is the same in each one, so study one of them: triangle OV1V2OV_1V_2, where V1V2V_1V_2 is a side of the hexagon with midpoint MM.
2. Mark midpoints. Let P1P_1 be the midpoint of OV1OV_1 and P2P_2 the midpoint of OV2OV_2. Joining MM, P1P_1 and P2P_2 cuts the big triangle into 44 small equilateral triangles of side 11: triangle OP1P2OP_1P_2 at the top, and three small triangles that each have MM as a corner.
3. Where the semicircle on V1V2V_1V_2 reaches. Its center is MM and its radius is 11. The points V1V_1, P1P_1, P2P_2, V2V_2 are all exactly 11 from MM, since they are corners of small triangles of side 11 with a corner at MM. So the three small triangles touching MM are completely covered, and the curved edge of the semicircle passes through P1P_1 and P2P_2.
4. The top small triangle. Between P1P_1 and P2P_2 the arc bulges past the straight segment P1P2P_1P_2 into triangle OP1P2OP_1P_2. That bulge is a circular "bite". The semicircles on the neighboring sides come in no further than line OV1OV_1 or OV2OV_2 between the corner and P1P_1 or P2P_2, so they add nothing new here. So the shaded part of this big triangle is triangle OP1P2OP_1P_2 with the bite removed.
5. Area of the bite. Triangle MP1P2MP_1P_2 is equilateral with side 11, so the arc from P1P_1 to P2P_2 is a 60∘60^\circ arc of a circle of radius 11. The bite is a 60∘60^\circ slice of the circle minus triangle MP1P2MP_1P_2:
60360π×12−34=π6−34.\frac{60}{360}\pi \times 1^2 - \frac{\sqrt3}{4} = \frac{\pi}{6} - \frac{\sqrt3}{4}.
6. Shaded part of one big triangle.
34−(π6−34)=32−π6.\frac{\sqrt3}{4} - \left(\frac{\pi}{6} - \frac{\sqrt3}{4}\right) = \frac{\sqrt3}{2} - \frac{\pi}{6}.
7. All six.
6(32−π6)=33−π.6\left(\frac{\sqrt3}{2} - \frac{\pi}{6}\right) = 3\sqrt3 - \pi.

The answer is (D) 33−π\boxed{\textbf{(D)}\ 3\sqrt{3} - \pi}.

Why this works

Before you subtract shapes from a region, check whether those shapes overlap. Here neighboring semicircles overlap near each corner, so "hexagon minus six half-circles" removes some area twice. Cutting the hexagon into equal pieces and marking midpoints shows exactly where each arc runs. The shaded region is then just small triangles minus circular bites, and each bite is a slice of a circle minus a triangle.

Alternative approach

Subtract first, then add back the overlaps. Hexagon area: 6×34×22=636 \times \frac{\sqrt3}{4} \times 2^2 = 6\sqrt3. Six half-circles of radius 11: 6×π2=3π6 \times \frac{\pi}{2} = 3\pi. Neighboring semicircles overlap in a lens shape between the shared corner and the crossing point near the center (the point P1P_1 or P2P_2 above). Each lens is two circular bites like the one in step 5, so its area is 2(π6−34)=π3−322\left(\frac{\pi}{6} - \frac{\sqrt3}{4}\right) = \frac{\pi}{3} - \frac{\sqrt3}{2}. That area was removed twice, so add it back once for each of the 66 lenses:
63−3π+6(π3−32)=33−π.6\sqrt3 - 3\pi + 6\left(\frac{\pi}{3} - \frac{\sqrt3}{2}\right) = 3\sqrt3 - \pi.

Concise solution

A shorter write-up, the way contest solutions are usually written. It may take a different route from the solution above.

Let OO be the center. Each semicircle has radius 11 and is centered at the midpoint MM of a side, with OM=3OM = \sqrt3 (the apothem).

Where do two adjacent semicircles meet? Their centers M1,M2M_1, M_2 and the shared vertex VV satisfy M1V=M2V=1M_1V = M_2V = 1 and M1M2=3M_1M_2 = \sqrt3 (triangle OM1M2OM_1M_2 is equilateral). The second intersection point PP is the mirror image of VV across line M1M2M_1M_2. Since OO is at distance 32\tfrac{3}{2} from that line and OV=2OV = 2, the reflection puts PP at distance 2−2⋅12=12 - 2\cdot\tfrac12 = 1 from OO.

So the six meeting points lie on a circle of radius 11 around OO, spaced 60∘60^\circ apart: they form a regular hexagon of side 11, and the shaded region is that inner hexagon with six circular arcs bulging inward.

Consider one side P1P2P_1P_2 of the inner hexagon and the semicircle center MM on its far side. MP1=MP2=P1P2=1MP_1 = MP_2 = P_1P_2 = 1, so the arc P1P2P_1P_2 subtends 60∘60^\circ at MM, and the bite it takes out of the inner hexagon is a circular segment of area
π6−34.\frac{\pi}{6} - \frac{\sqrt3}{4}.

Shaded area == inner hexagon −- six segments:
6⋅34−6(π6−34)=33−π.6\cdot\frac{\sqrt3}{4} - 6\left(\frac{\pi}{6} - \frac{\sqrt3}{4}\right) = 3\sqrt3 - \pi.

The answer is (D) 33−π\boxed{\textbf{(D)}\ 3\sqrt{3} - \pi}.

Review in the AoPS books

Similar problems

Problem © Mathematical Association of America (MAA), American Mathematics Competitions. Reproduced for non-commercial educational use. Solution and commentary are original to this site.