2017 AMC 10A Problem 22

Attempt Problem 22 of the 2017 AMC 10A below, then check your answer against the professionally curated solution from LIVE by Po-Shen Loh. You can also try the full timed exam, view all 2017 AMC 10A solutions, or check the answer key.

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22.

Sides AB‾\overline{AB} and AC‾\overline{AC} of equilateral triangle ABCABC are tangent to a circle at points BB and CC respectively. What fraction of the area of △ABC\triangle ABC lies outside the circle?

43π27−13\dfrac{4\sqrt{3}\pi}{27}-\dfrac{1}{3}

32−π8\dfrac{\sqrt{3}}{2}-\dfrac{\pi}{8}

12\dfrac{1}{2}

3−23π9\sqrt{3}-\dfrac{2\sqrt{3}\pi}{9}

43−43π27\dfrac{4}{3}-\dfrac{4\sqrt{3}\pi}{27}

Answer: E
Concepts:equilateral trianglesectortangent line
Difficulty rating: 2150
Small Hint:

Let the circle radius be rr

Big Hint:

Compare the circular segment inside the triangle with the full area of △ABC\triangle ABC

Solution:

Let the radius of the circle be r.r.

To find the area of the triangle outside of the circle, we can find the area of the triangle inside the circle and subtract it.

We get that ∠BOC=120∘\angle BOC = 120^{\circ} since ∠ABO\angle ABO and ∠ACO\angle ACO are right angles.

This means that the area of sector OBCOBC is 120360⋅πr2=πr23. \dfrac{120}{360} \cdot \pi r^2 = \dfrac{\pi r^2}{3}.

Now, we need to find the area of △BOC.\triangle BOC. Using the formula for the area of a triangle with sine, we get the area to be 12sin⁡(120∘)⋅r2=r234. \dfrac{1}{2} \sin (120^{\circ}) \cdot r^2 = \dfrac{r^2\sqrt{3}}{4}.

Then the area of the triangle inside the circle is πr23−r234=r2(4π−33)12. \dfrac{\pi r^2}{3} - \dfrac{r^2\sqrt{3}}{4} = \dfrac{r^2(4\pi - 3\sqrt{3})}{12}.

The area of △ABC\triangle ABC is (r3)234=3r234. \dfrac{(r\sqrt{3})^2\sqrt{3}}{4} = \dfrac{3r^2\sqrt{3}}{4}.

The fraction of the triangle lying inside the circle is r2(4π−33)12⋅43r23,\dfrac{r^2(4\pi-3\sqrt3)}{12}\cdot \dfrac{4}{3r^2\sqrt3}, which simplifies to 4π−3393.\dfrac{4\pi-3\sqrt3}{9\sqrt3}.

Hence the desired fraction is 1−4π−3393=1−4π327+13=43−4π327.\begin{aligned} &1-\dfrac{4\pi-3\sqrt3}{9\sqrt3}\\ &=1-\dfrac{4\pi\sqrt3}{27}+\dfrac13\\ &=\dfrac43-\dfrac{4\pi\sqrt3}{27}. \end{aligned}

Thus, E is the correct answer.

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