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Bunuel

The diagram below shows a shaded region and an equilateral triangle of side length 2. Each vertex is the center of the semicircle shapes. Find the difference between the area of the shaded region and the area of the triangle

A. π/3
B. π/4
C. π/9
D. π/16
E. π


Foreheadson

Don't get fancy, just LOOK at the figure. Ignore the shaded part inside the triangle since both have that included in their areas.

The triangle has three extra half circles, so 1.5 circles.

The shaded region has three extra portions of circles, each of which is 5/6th of a circle, so 15/6 or 2.5 circles.

The difference between the areas is therefore 1 circle. The radius of each circle is 0.5. The area of one circle is therefore (pi)/4.

Answer choice B.
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Bunuel

The diagram below shows a shaded region and an equilateral triangle of side length 2. Each vertex is the center of the semicircle shapes. Find the difference between the area of the shaded region and the area of the triangle

A. π/3
B. π/4
C. π/9
D. π/16
E. π


Foreheadson

Don't get fancy, just LOOK at the figure. Ignore the shaded part inside the triangle since both have that included in their areas.

The triangle has three extra half circles, so 1.5 circles.

The shaded region has three extra portions of circles, each of which is 5/6th of a circle, so 15/6 or 2.5 circles.

The difference between the areas is therefore 1 circle. The radius of each circle is 0.5. The area of one circle is therefore (pi)/4.

Answer choice B.

I see what you are trying to say. But during the problem, I didn't even try to think that way. I went straight to difficult calculations (although they are correct), which cost me 12 mins, not to mention that on every step one might make a small mistake and never find the answer. Now that I look from different angle, it seems very easy.

Thanks for the explanation. and great question.
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Foreheadson
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Bunuel

The diagram below shows a shaded region and an equilateral triangle of side length 2. Each vertex is the center of the semicircle shapes. Find the difference between the area of the shaded region and the area of the triangle

A. π/3
B. π/4
C. π/9
D. π/16
E. π


Foreheadson

Don't get fancy, just LOOK at the figure. Ignore the shaded part inside the triangle since both have that included in their areas.

The triangle has three extra half circles, so 1.5 circles.

The shaded region has three extra portions of circles, each of which is 5/6th of a circle, so 15/6 or 2.5 circles.

The difference between the areas is therefore 1 circle. The radius of each circle is 0.5. The area of one circle is therefore (pi)/4.

Answer choice B.

I see what you are trying to say. But during the problem, I didn't even try to think that way. I went straight to difficult calculations (although they are correct), which cost me 12 mins, not to mention that on every step one might make a small mistake and never find the answer. Now that I look from different angle, it seems very easy.

Thanks for the explanation. and great question.

Foreheadson

I totally understand. You are definitely not alone in jumping into math-ey math math. If there's a top ten list of take-aways from this question, the first nine are that, ESPECIALLY on geometry questions, it can really pay off to take a moment to see if there's a way to estimate or reason through the question first. Geometry is the single most "beatable" math topic (both coordinate and non-coordinate varieties). Here's a post with some OG examples: https://gmatclub.com/forum/a-circle-o-with-a-radius-of-4-is-inscribed-by-a-regular-hexagon-what-326191.html#p3028431. Enjoy!
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