Question

In a plane, four circles with radii $1,3,5,$ and $7$ are tangent to line $\ell$ at the same point $A,$ but they may be on either side of $\ell.$ Region $S$ consists of all the points that lie inside exactly one of the four circles. What is the maximum possible area of region $S?$

$24\pi$

$32\pi$

$64\pi$

$65\pi$

$84\pi$

Answer: D

Concepts:tangent circles circle area optimization

Difficulty rating: 1240

Video solution:

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Written solution:

On one side of $\ell,$ circles tangent at $A$ are nested. For nested circles with radii $r_1>r_2>\cdots,$ the points inside exactly one of those circles have area $\pi(r_1^2-r_2^2)$ if there are at least two circles; a third smaller nested circle does not count because its points are inside three circles, not exactly one.

To maximize the area, put the circle of radius $7$ alone on one side, and put the circles of radii $5,3,1$ on the other side. This gives

$\begin{aligned} &7^2\pi+(5^2-3^2)\pi \\ &=49\pi+16\pi=65\pi. \end{aligned}$

Thus, the answer is D .

2021 AMC 10B Spring Problem 7

Answer: D

Difficulty rating: 1240

Video solution:

Written solution:

Problem 7 in Other Years