The figure shows twelve identical unit equilateral triangles packed inside a bigger equilateral triangle.
The side length of the bigger equilateral triangle is 2 + 2 cos θ .
Find θ .
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Suppose that the length
G
H
=
x
, and that
∠
A
C
F
=
θ
. Applying the Sine Rule to the triangle
B
C
G
, we see that
(
1
+
x
)
sin
θ
=
sin
(
1
2
0
∘
−
θ
)
If
X
is the length of the large equilateral triangle, then
X
=
1
+
A
C
=
1
+
sin
6
0
∘
(
2
+
x
)
sin
(
1
2
0
∘
−
θ
)
using the Sine Rule on
A
C
F
. On the other hand
X
=
2
+
A
F
=
2
+
sin
6
0
∘
(
2
+
x
)
sin
θ
Putting these last equations together,
sin
6
0
∘
=
(
2
+
x
)
[
sin
(
1
2
0
∘
−
θ
)
−
sin
θ
]
=
(
2
+
x
)
sin
(
6
0
∘
−
θ
)
and hence we obtain the equation
sin
(
6
0
∘
−
θ
)
sin
6
0
∘
sin
6
0
∘
sin
θ
sin
θ
=
2
+
x
=
sin
θ
sin
(
1
2
0
∘
−
θ
)
+
1
=
sin
θ
sin
(
6
0
∘
+
θ
)
+
1
=
sin
(
6
0
∘
−
θ
)
sin
(
6
0
∘
+
θ
)
+
sin
θ
sin
(
6
0
∘
−
θ
)
=
4
3
cos
2
θ
+
4
1
3
sin
2
θ
=
sin
(
2
θ
+
6
0
∘
)
and hence we have
2
θ
+
6
0
∘
=
1
8
0
∘
−
θ
, and hence
θ
=
4
0
∘
. From this we can now calculate that
x
=
2
1
sec
2
0
∘
and that
X
=
2
+
2
cos
2
0
∘
, making the answer
2
0
∘
.
Better than my solution, which was an ultimate trig bash that took me 30 minutes.
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