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Random point on a snowman below 39 inches

Question

A snowman is a stack of three spheres touching end to end, with radii 1414 (bottom), 1111 (middle) and 88 (top) inches, the bottom one resting on the ground. Treat the whole surface of all three spheres as exposed, and choose a point uniformly from that total surface. What is the probability the point is no higher than 3939 inches above the ground?

Short answer

171/254171/254. By Archimedes' hat-box theorem, a horizontal slice of a sphere has area proportional to its height. The bottom sphere (height 00–2828) counts fully, and 3939 is exactly the middle sphere's equator, so half of it counts: (4⋅196+2⋅121)π=1026π(4\cdot196+2\cdot121)\pi=1026\pi out of 4(64+121+196)π=1524π4(64+121+196)\pi=1524\pi, giving 171254\tfrac{171}{254}.

Adapted from QuantQuestions.io; question and answer rewritten by SelfMadeQuant.com.

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