What Is the Area of This Complex Shape?

[p3rf3ct4u]

hi guys I'm doing a physics problem and it requires me to know the area of the following shape:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v89/p3rf3ct4u/a.jpg"

any help would be greatly appreciated!

 

[CompuChip]

Welcome to PF.

I think the problem could be solved as follows:

Assuming the arc is a part of a circle (which is sort of implied by the picture), first calculate the angle $\alpha$ in my attached diagram. Then you can also find $\beta$ and from that you can get the area of the circle segment. Then you can find the area of the total piece (by adding the triangle part) and use symmetry to find the total area.