That's No Sun

Geometry Level 4

Suppose we combine a unit circle and a square of the same area, as shown above, such that their centroids lie on the same point. What is the area of the non-overlapping white region?

If your answer is of the following form A arctan ( π ( B π ) π C ) D π ( E π ) , A \arctan\left(\dfrac{\sqrt{\pi\left(B - \pi\right)}}{\pi - C}\right) - D \sqrt{\pi\left(E - \pi\right)}, where A , B , C , D , A, B, C, D, and E E are positive integers, evaluate A + B + C + D + E A + B + C + D + E .


The answer is 16.

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2 solutions

Michael Huang
Dec 20, 2016

Section I. Beginning Step


Since both square and unit circle have the same areas, A square = A circle s 2 = π s = π \begin{array}{rl} A_{\text{square}} &= A_{\text{circle}}\\ s^2 &= \pi\\ s &= \sqrt{\pi} \end{array} where s s denotes the length of the square.

Figure 1. The combined shape is symmetric. Figure 1. The combined shape is symmetric.

Since the centroids of both shapes lie on the same point, we can show that (1) 4 white regions of the square extend outside of the circle, and that (2) the combined shape is symmetric with respect to the 4 lines. Splitting the square into 4 congruent squares, we can see that the diagonal length of the subsquare is 2 π 2 > 1 \dfrac{\sqrt{2\pi}}{2} > 1 . In this case, since these square share the common point, the square is not fully bounded by the circle.


Section II. Area Computation


Figure 2. Close-up diagram Figure 2. Close-up diagram

From the second diagram, observe that

  • δ α β = ε α γ = μ α ε \angle \delta\alpha\beta = \angle \varepsilon\alpha\gamma = \angle \mu\alpha\varepsilon . Thus, the lines intersecting the sector must have equal lengths.
  • In one of the the 4 subsquares, γ α δ = π 2 2 δ α β \angle \gamma\alpha\delta = \dfrac{\pi}{2} - 2\angle \delta\alpha\beta

where the angle unit is in radians. The next steps are to determine and use the areas of the colored regions for the area difference.

Section II.1. Area of Concave Shape

Since Δ δ α β \Delta \delta\alpha\beta is the right triangle, Pythagorean Theorem shows that δ β = δ α 2 α β 2 = 1 π 4 = 4 π 4 = 1 2 4 π \begin{array}{rl} |\delta\beta| &= \sqrt{|\delta\alpha|^2 - |\alpha\beta|^2}\\ &= \sqrt{1 - \dfrac{\pi}{4}}\\ &= \sqrt{\dfrac{4 - \pi}{4}}\\ &= \dfrac{1}{2}\sqrt{4 - \pi} \end{array} Since there are two congruent triangles in the subsquare with these common side lengths, A triangles 1 = 2 1 2 ( π 2 ) ( 4 π 2 ) = 1 4 π ( 4 π ) \begin{array}{rl} A_{\text{triangles}_1} &= 2 \cdot \dfrac{1}{2}\left(\dfrac{\sqrt{\pi}}{2}\right)\left(\dfrac{\sqrt{4 - \pi}}{2}\right)\\ &= \dfrac{1}{4}\sqrt{\pi(4 - \pi)} \end{array}

which is equivalent to determining the area of the rectangle of two combined triangles. For the arc sector, by trigonometry, since cos ( δ α β ) = π 2 δ α β = arccos ( π 2 ) \begin{array}{rl} \cos\left(\angle \delta\alpha\beta\right) &= \dfrac{\sqrt{\pi}}{2}\\ \angle \delta\alpha\beta &= \arccos\left(\dfrac{\sqrt{\pi}}{2}\right) \end{array} and the subsquare is symmetric with respect to its diagonal, we have γ α δ = π 2 2 δ α β = π 2 2 arccos ( π 2 ) \angle \gamma\alpha\delta = \dfrac{\pi}{2} - 2\angle \delta\alpha\beta = \dfrac{\pi}{2} - 2\arccos\left(\dfrac{\sqrt{\pi}}{2}\right) So the area of the sector is A sect 1 = γ α δ 2 A_{\text{sect}_1} = \dfrac{\angle \gamma\alpha\delta}{2} which I chose to evaluate later. Therefore, the area of the white region is A net 1 = A subsquare A triangles 1 A sect 1 = π 4 1 4 π ( 4 π ) γ α δ 2 \begin{array}{rl} A_{\text{net}_1} &= A_{\text{subsquare}} - A_{\text{triangles}_1} - A_{\text{sect}_1}\\ &= \dfrac{\pi}{4} - \dfrac{1}{4}\sqrt{\pi(4-\pi)} - \dfrac{\angle \gamma\alpha\delta}{2} \end{array}

Section II.2. Area of Convex Shape

Focus on arc sector μ γ α \mu\gamma\alpha . Because it also shares the common triangles with the subsquare, A triangles 2 = 1 4 π ( 4 π ) A_{\text{triangles}_2} = \dfrac{1}{4}\sqrt{\pi(4 - \pi)} Then, since μ α γ = 2 δ α β \angle \mu\alpha\gamma = 2\angle \delta\alpha\beta , A sect 2 = δ α β A_{\text{sect}_2} = \angle \delta\alpha\beta Therefore, A net 2 = A sect 2 A triangles 2 = δ α β 1 4 π ( 4 π ) \begin{array}{rl} A_{\text{net}_2} &= A_{\text{sect}_2} - A_{\text{triangles}_2}\\ &= \angle \delta\alpha\beta - \dfrac{1}{4}\sqrt{\pi(4 - \pi)} \end{array}


Section III. Final Step


So A white = 4 A net 1 + 4 A net 2 = 8 arccos ( π 2 ) 2 π ( 4 π ) \begin{array}{rl} A_{\text{white}} &= 4A_{\text{net}_1} + 4A_{\text{net}_2}\\ &= 8\arccos\left(\dfrac{\sqrt{\pi}}{2}\right) - 2\sqrt{\pi(4 - \pi)} \end{array} Since arccos ( π 2 ) = arctan ( 4 π π ) \arccos\left(\dfrac{\sqrt{\pi}}{2}\right) = \arctan\left( \dfrac{\sqrt{4 - \pi}}{\sqrt{\pi}}\right) and 2 arctan ( α ) = arctan ( 2 α 1 α 2 ) 2\arctan(\alpha) = \arctan\left(\dfrac{2\alpha}{1 - \alpha^2}\right) where α = 4 π π \alpha = \dfrac{\sqrt{4 - \pi}}{\sqrt{\pi}} , the resulting area is 8 arctan ( 4 π π ) 2 π ( 4 π ) = 4 ( 2 arctan ( 4 π π ) ) 2 π ( 4 π ) = 4 arctan ( π ( 4 π ) π 2 ) 2 π ( 4 π ) \begin{array}{rl} 8\arctan\left(\dfrac{\sqrt{4 - \pi}}{\sqrt{\pi}}\right) - 2\sqrt{\pi(4 - \pi)} &= 4\left( 2\arctan\left(\dfrac{\sqrt{4 - \pi}}{\sqrt{\pi}}\right)\right) - 2\sqrt{\pi(4 - \pi)}\\ &= 4\arctan\left(\dfrac{\sqrt{\pi(4 - \pi)}}{\pi - 2}\right) - 2\sqrt{\pi(4 - \pi)} \end{array} where A + B + C + D + E = 4 + 4 + 2 + 2 + 4 = 16 A + B + C + D + E= 4 + 4 + 2 + 2 + 4 = \boxed{16}

A=8, B=4, C=0, D=2 and E=4 would have also worked.

Indraneel Mukhopadhyaya - 4 years, 5 months ago

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That's right, because of the following trigonometric identity

2 A r c T a n ( b ( 2 a b ) b ) = A r c T a n ( b ( 2 a b ) b a ) 2ArcTan\left( \dfrac { \sqrt { b(2a-b) } }{ b } \right) =ArcTan\left( \dfrac { \sqrt { b(2a-b) } }{ b-a } \right)

provided that 2 a > b > a 2a>b>a


Michael Mendrin - 4 years, 5 months ago

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That's a surprisingly nice identity!

Calvin Lin Staff - 4 years, 5 months ago

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@Calvin Lin Yes, it is! It's actually simple to derive this by using the sum of arctan \arctan . Good thing that @Michael Mendrin provided the necessary bounds for the identity. :)

Michael Huang - 4 years, 5 months ago

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@Michael Huang I prefer a geometrical approach, shown in the graphic below which should be self-explanatory, using a semicircle to construct a geometric mean. Note that the exterior angle of an isosceles triangle is twice that of one of base angles.

Michael Mendrin - 4 years, 5 months ago

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@Michael Mendrin Nice! This could be the part of the next solution! XD

Michael Huang - 4 years, 5 months ago

Thanks. I see that this problem has been edited. Those who previously answered 4.24 has been marked correct.

In future, if you spot any errors with a problem, you can “report” it by selecting "report problem" in the menu. This will notify the problem creator (and eventually staff) who can fix the issues.

Brilliant Mathematics Staff - 4 years, 5 months ago

Your diagram and explanation is very clear!:) Although, the length α β \alpha\beta should have two lines across it (not that it really matters).

Dan Ley - 4 years, 5 months ago

As a result, I also got A=8 B=4 C=0 D=2 E=4. There are no restrictions on variables in the task condition. The question remains the same: Is it necessary to make trigonometric transformations?

Galina Ok - 10 months ago

FYI I updated the question to ask for A + B + C + D + E A + B + C + D + E directly, as that avoids having another hoop for people to jump through.

Calvin Lin Staff - 4 years, 5 months ago
Ahmad Saad
Jan 29, 2017

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