2003 AMC 8 Problem 22

Attempt Problem 22 of the 2003 AMC 8 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 2003 AMC 8 solutions, or check the answer key.

All problems are used with official legal permission of the Mathematical Association of America (MAA).

22.

The following figures are composed of squares and circles. Which figure has a shaded region with largest area?
AA only
BB only
CC only
both AA and BB
all are equal
Answer: C
Concepts:circle areaarea
Small hint:
Figures AA and BB leave the same shaded area.
Big hint:
For C,C, compare π−2\pi-2 with 4−π.4-\pi.
Solution:
In figure A,A, the shaded area is the area of a 22 by 22 square minus a circle of radius 1,1, so it is 4−π.4-\pi.
Figure BB is made of four copies of figure AA with half the side length, so each copy has one-fourth the area and the total shaded area is also 4−π.4-\pi.
In figure C,C, the circle has radius 1,1, and the inscribed square has diagonal 2,2, so its area is 2.2. The shaded area is π−2.\pi-2.
Since π>3,\pi>3, we have π−2>4−π,\pi-2>4-\pi, so figure CC has the largest shaded area.
Thus, C is the correct answer.
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