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2020 AMC 12B Problem 11

Problem 11 of 25IntermediateGeometryCounting & Probability

As shown in the figure below, six semicircles lie in the interior of a regular hexagon with side length 22 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?

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Solution

The hexagon has area 33222=63.\tfrac{3\sqrt3}{2}\cdot 2^2 = 6\sqrt3. Each semicircle has radius 11 and area π2,\tfrac{\pi}{2}, totaling 3π.3\pi. Adjacent semicircle centers (side midpoints) are a distance 3\sqrt3 apart, so each adjacent pair overlaps in a lens of area 2cos1 ⁣(32)32=π332.2\cos^{-1}\!\left(\tfrac{\sqrt3}{2}\right) - \tfrac{\sqrt3}{2} = \tfrac{\pi}{3} - \tfrac{\sqrt3}{2}. There are six such lenses. The union of the semicircles is 3π6(π332)=π+33.3\pi - 6\left(\frac{\pi}{3} - \frac{\sqrt3}{2}\right) = \pi + 3\sqrt3. Subtracting from the hexagon gives the shaded area 63(π+33)=33π.6\sqrt3 - (\pi + 3\sqrt3) = 3\sqrt3 - \pi. Thus, the correct answer is D.

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Concepts: regular polygon · area decomposition · inclusion-exclusion

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