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2003 AMC 12A Problems/Problem 15

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Problem

A semicircle of diameter 1 sits at the top of a semicircle of diameter 2, as shown. The shaded area inside the smaller semicircle and outside the larger semicircle is called a lune. Determine the area of this lune.

Image:2003amc10a19.gif

\mathrm{(A) \ } \frac{1}{6}\pi-\frac{\sqrt{3}}{4}\qquad \mathrm{(B) \ } \frac{\sqrt{3}}{4}-\frac{1}{12}\pi\qquad \mathrm{(C) ...

Solution

Image:2003amc10a19solution.gif

The shaded area is equal to the area of the smaller semicircle minus the area of a sector of the larger circle plus the area of a triangle formed by two radii of the larger semicircle and the diameter of the smaller semicircle.

The area of the smaller semicircle is \frac{1}{2}\pi\cdot(\frac{1}{2})^{2}=\frac{1}{8}\pi.

Since the radius of the larger semicircle is equal to the diameter of the smaller semicircle, the triangle is an equilateral triangle and the sector measures 60^\circ.

The area of the 60^\circ sector of the larger semicircle is \frac{60}{360}\pi\cdot(\frac{2}{2})^{2}=\frac{1}{6}\pi.

The area of the triangle is \frac{1^{2}\sqrt{3}}{4}=\frac{\sqrt{3}}{4}

So the shaded area is \frac{1}{8}\pi-\frac{1}{6}\pi+\frac{\sqrt{3}}{4}=\frac{\sqrt{3}}{4}-\frac{1}{24}\pi \Rightarrow C

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