I was given a question which states –
A circular disc is cut into twelve sectors whose areas are in an
arithmetic sequence. The angle of the largest sector is twice the
angle of the smallest sector.Find the size of the angle of the smallest sector.
Here's what I have done so far,
$\Rightarrow U_1 = w$
$\Rightarrow U_n = 2w$
$\Rightarrow w + (n – 1)d = 2w$
$\Rightarrow n = 12$
$\therefore\ d = \frac{w}{11}$
And now I am clueless about where to go from here…
Best Answer
Recall that the sum of twelve sectors is the whole disc, $$360^{\circ}=\sum_{k=1}^{12} (w+(k-1)d)=12w+d\sum_{k=1}^{12}(k-1)=12w+66d$$ which, together with $w + (12 - 1)d = 2w$, i.e. $11d=w$ give you all you need to find $w$, that is the angle (in degrees) of the smallest sector: $$360^{\circ}=12w+66d=12w+6w\implies w=\frac{360^\circ}{18}=20^\circ.$$