Three congruent sectors of a circle fit tightly inside an equilateral triangle as shown. The angle of the sectors is between and .
Find the maximum proportion of the triangle filled by the sectors.
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If there's a closed form I don't plan find it. See the complicated function to be maximized below. The maximum occurs when the angle is about 7 9 . 7 3 7 9 1 9 7 7 ∘
Let the sectors have unit radius then the total area of the sectors is A ( θ ) = 3 ⋅ θ ⋅ 3 6 0 ∘ π where θ is the angle in degrees.
The formula for the side length is S ( θ ) = 2 sin θ 2 3 sin θ − 2 cos θ + 3
The proportion to be maximized is then P ( θ ) = 4 3 S 2 A
Which I first maximized with Geometer's Sketchpad and then confirmed with my graphing calculator which gives more digits of accuracy.