2010 AMC 10B Problem 20

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Concepts:regular polygontangent linespecial right trianglearea ratio

Difficulty rating: 1960

20.

Two circles lie outside regular hexagon ABCDEF.ABCDEF. The first is tangent to AB,\overline{AB}, and the second is tangent to DE.\overline{DE}. Both are tangent to lines BCBC and FA.FA. What is the ratio of the area of the second circle to that of the first circle?

1818

2727

3636

8181

108108

Solution:

Consider the following diagram:

Assume the regular hexagon has side length 1.1. The smaller circle is inscribed in an equilateral triangle of side length 1.1.

The inradius of this equilateral triangle is 36.\dfrac{\sqrt3}{6}. The area of the circle is then π(36)2=π12. \pi \cdot \left(\dfrac{\sqrt3}{6}\right)^2 = \dfrac{\pi}{12}.

Let OO be the center of the larger circle. Drop the perpendicular from OO to GH\overline{GH} at J.J. Draw OG.\overline{OG}.

We have that OJG\triangle OJG is right. Since HGI=60,\angle HGI = 60^{\circ}, we also have that OJG\triangle OJG is a 30609030-60-90 triangle.

Let OJ=r.OJ = r. Then OG=2r.OG = 2r. We also have that OGOG is the sum of the height of the hexagon, equilateral triangle, and radius of the circle.

Then OG=32+3+r. OG = \dfrac{\sqrt3}{2} + \sqrt3 + r.

Substituting in OG,OG, we get 2r=32+3+r. 2r = \dfrac{\sqrt3}{2} + \sqrt3 + r. Simplifying gives us r=332. r = \dfrac{3\sqrt3}{2}.

The area of the larger circle is then π(332)2=274π. \pi \cdot \left(\dfrac{3\sqrt3}{2}\right)^2 = \dfrac{27}{4}\pi.

The desired ratio is then 27π4π12=81. \dfrac{\frac{27\pi}{4}}{\frac{\pi}{12}} = 81.

Thus, D is the correct answer.

Problem 20 in Other Years