Maths Olympiad Prep

Library / /280 of 860

Geometry Difficulty 5.0 AIME, harder Find the answer

What is the smallest number of regular hexagons of side length 1 needed to completely cover a disc of radius 1 ?

A number or a short expression. Spacing and $ signs are ignored.

Solution

First, we show that two hexagons do not suffice. Specifically, we claim that a hexagon covers less than half of the disc's boundary. First, a hexagon of side length 1 may be inscribed in a circle, and this covers just 6 points. Translating the hexagon vertically upward (regardless of its orientation) will cause it to no longer touch any point on the lower half of the circle, so that it now covers less than half of the boundary. By rotational symmetry, the same argument applies to translation in any other direction, proving the claim. Then, two hexagons cannot possibly cover the disc. The disc can be covered by three hexagons as follows. Let PP be the center of the circle. Put three non-overlapping hexagons together at point PP. This will cover the circle, since each hexagon will cover a 120120^{\circ} sector of the circle.

Want a route through all this instead of an archive? The track puts 2,000 problems in a working order, from AMC 10 level to the IMO shortlist.

Source: Omni-MATH, licensed Apache-2.0. Statement and solution reproduced as published; topic and difficulty added by this site.