Inside out area

Geometry Level 2

An equilateral triangle with side length s s is positioned with one vertex on the center of a circle with radius r r . Find the quotient s / r s/r that causes the area inside the triangle but outside the circle to be the same as the area of the circle. Round your answer to two decimal places.


The answer is 2.91.

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2 solutions

Mahdi Raza
May 18, 2020
  • The area of triangle will be 3 4 s 2 \dfrac{\sqrt{3}}{{4}}\cdot s^2 .
  • Subtracting the 6 0 60^{\circ} sector which is equal to 1 6 π r 2 \dfrac{1}{6} \pi r^2 , yields the area of the circle.
  • We can then solve as follows:

\[\begin{align} \bigg(\dfrac{\sqrt{3}}{{4}}\cdot s^2 \bigg) - \bigg(\dfrac{1}{6} \pi r^2\bigg) &= \pi r^2 \\ \\ \bigg(\dfrac{\sqrt{3}}{{4}}\cdot s^2 \bigg) &= \bigg(\dfrac{7}{6} \pi r^2\bigg) \\ \\ \dfrac{s^2}{r^2} &= \bigg(\dfrac{7}{6} \pi \dfrac{4}{\sqrt{3}}\bigg) \\ \\ \dfrac{s}{r} &= \sqrt{\bigg(\dfrac{7}{6} \pi \dfrac{4}{\sqrt{3}}\bigg)} \\ \\ \dfrac{s}{r} &\approx \boxed{2.91}

\end{align}\]

Ron Gallagher
May 17, 2020

The area of the triangle is (s^2) sqrt(3)/4. To get the area inside the triangle but outside the circle, we must subtract the area of a sector with central angle 60 degrees. This is given by .5 (Pi/3)*r^2. Since this difference must be the area of the circle, we have:

Sqrt(3) .25 s^2 - Pi (r^2)/6 = Pi r^2

Now solve for s/r = 2.91 (approximately)

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