Dart-Throwing David

Geometry Level 4

David throws a dart that lands at a point P P inside triangle A B C ABC that has B C = 5 , C A = 6 , BC=5, CA=6, and A B = 7 AB=7 . If the distance between P P and all of the vertices is greater than 2, than David wins. The probability that David wins can be expressed in the form a b π c \frac{a-\sqrt{b} \pi}{c} in simplest terms. Compute a + b + c a+b+c .


The answer is 42.

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1 solution

Patrick Prochazka
Jul 13, 2015

Construct circular sectors of radius 2 from each of the vertices. If David throws a dart in the region of any of these these sectors (shaded red in the diagram), then David will not win. Thus, David wins if he throws a dart in any other part of the triangle (shaded green). The probability that David wins is the ratio of the green area to the area of the entire triangle.

By Heron's formula, the area of the entire triangle is: ( 9 ) ( 4 ) ( 3 ) ( 2 ) = 216 = 6 6 \sqrt{(9)(4)(3)(2)} = \sqrt{216} = 6\sqrt{6} .

The area of the green part is the area of the entire triangle minus the area of the three red areas. Since the angles of a triangle sum to 18 0 180^{\circ} , the three sectors will form a half-circle with area 2 2 π 2 = 2 π \frac{2^2 \pi}{2} = 2\pi . Thus, the area of the green part is 6 6 2 π 6\sqrt{6} - 2\pi .

Thus, the probability that David wins is: 6 6 2 π 6 6 = 18 6 π 18 \frac{6\sqrt{6} - 2\pi}{6\sqrt{6}} = \frac{18 - \sqrt{6} \pi}{18} . Thus, a = 18 , b = 6 , c = 18 a=18, b=6, c=18 , and a + b + c = 42. a+b+c = \fbox{42.}

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