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2011 AMC 12A Problem 11

Problem 11 of 25IntermediateGeometry

Circles A,A, B,B, and CC each have radius 1.1. Circles AA and BB share one point of tangency. Circle CC has a point of tangency with the midpoint of AB.\overline{AB}. What is the area inside circle CC but outside circle AA and circle B?B?

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Solution

Place A=(1,0),A = (-1, 0), B=(1,0),B = (1, 0), so their tangency point is the origin, the midpoint of AB.\overline{AB}. Then C=(0,1),C = (0, 1), since CC passes through the origin. The distance from CC to AA (and to BB) is 2.\sqrt2. Two unit circles whose centers are 2\sqrt2 apart overlap in a lens of area 2cos1 ⁣(22)2242=2π41=π21. \begin{aligned} 2\cos^{-1}\!\left(\tfrac{\sqrt2}{2}\right) \\ {}- \tfrac{\sqrt2}{2}\sqrt{4 - 2} \\ = 2 \cdot \tfrac{\pi}{4} - 1 = \tfrac{\pi}{2} - 1. \end{aligned} Circles AA and BB meet only at the origin, so the two lenses do not overlap. The wanted area is π2(π21)=2. \pi - 2\left(\tfrac{\pi}{2} - 1\right) = 2. Thus, the correct answer is C.

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Concepts: circle area · tangent circles · area decomposition

Problem text and solution from the LIVE past-contest archive. See also the AoPS wiki page for community solutions.