Four Circles

Geometry Level 3

In the figure above, there are 4 circles that are tangent to one another. The two largest circles have radius 3 and the second in size has radius 2. The radius of the smallest is not known. Find the area of the shaded region bounded by the 4 circles. Round your answer to the nearest hundredth.


The answer is 0.58.

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2 solutions

Ahmad Saad
May 4, 2017

Arturo Presa
May 3, 2017

Let us draw a triangle formed by the centers of the circles of radius 3 and the center of the circle of radius 2 that can be denoted as A , B A, B and C , C, respectively. Look at the figure below. Let us introduce a rectangular coordinate center such that the point A A coincides with the origin and the point B B coincides with ( 6 , 0 ) . (6, 0). Since A C = 3 + 2 = 5 , |AC|=3+2=5, and the point C C has coordinates ( 3 , b ) , (3,b), then 3 2 + b 2 = 5 2 , \sqrt{3^2+b^2}=5^2, so b = 4. b=4. Let us denote the radius of the smallest of the circles by x x and the coordinates of its center D D by ( 3 , y ) . (3, y). Then A D 3 = 3 2 + y 2 3 = x |AD|-3=\sqrt{3^2+y^2}-3=x and C D 2 = ( 4 y ) 2 = x . |CD|-2= (4-y)-2=x. Solving the system formed by these two equations, we get that y = 8 5 y=\frac{8}{5} and x = 2 5 . x=\frac{2}{5}.

Besides that, it easy to see that sin A = sin B = 4 5 , \sin A=\sin B = \frac{4}{5}, or, equivalently, the angles of the triangle in the figure are A = sin 1 4 5 , B = sin 1 4 5 A=\sin^{-1}{\frac{4}{5}}, B=\sin^{-1}{\frac{4}{5}} and C = π 2 sin 1 4 5 . C=\pi -2\sin^{-1}{\frac{4}{5}}.

Now we can use the fact that the shaded area K K is equal to the area of the triangle minus the sum of the areas of the circular sectors at the corners and the area of the small circle. So K = 1 2 5 6 sin A 1 2 3 2 sin 1 4 5 1 2 3 2 sin 1 4 5 1 2 2 2 ( π 2 sin 1 4 5 ) ( 2 5 ) 2 π 0.58 . K= \frac{1}{2}*5*6 *\sin A- \frac{1}{2}*3^2 *\sin^{-1}\frac{4}{5}-\frac{1}{2}*3^2 *\sin^{-1}\frac{4}{5}-\frac{1}{2}*2^2 *(\pi -2\sin^{-1}{\frac{4}{5}})- (\frac{2}{5})^2 \pi\approx \boxed{0.58}.

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