Problem: Circles $\omega_1$ $\omega_2$ , and $\omega_3$ each have radius $4$ and are placed in the plane so that each circle is externally tangent to the other two.  Points $P_1$ $P_2$ , and $P_3$ lie on $\omega_1$ $\omega_2$ , and $\omega_3$ respectively such that $P_1P_2=P_2P_3=P_3P_1$ and line $P_iP_{i+1}$ is tangent to $\omega_i$ for each $i=1,2,3$ , where $P_4 = P_1$ .  See the figure below.  The area of $\triangle P_1P_2P_3$ can be written in the form $\sqrt{a}+\sqrt{b}$ for positive integers $a$ and $b$ .  What is $a+b$
[asy] unitsize(12); pair A = (0, 8/sqrt(3)), B = rotate(-120)*A, C = rotate(120)*A; real theta = 41.5; pair P1 = rotate(theta)*(2+2*sqrt(7/3), 0), P2 = rotate(-120)*P1, P3 = rotate(120)*P1; filldraw(P1--P2--P3--cycle, gray(0.9)); draw(Circle(A, 4)); draw(Circle(B, 4)); draw(Circle(C, 4)); dot(P1); dot(P2); dot(P3); defaultpen(fontsize(10pt)); label("$P_1$", P1, E*1.5); label("$P_2$", P2, SW*1.5); label("$P_3$", P3, N); label("$\omega_1$", A, W*17); label("$\omega_2$", B, E*17); label("$\omega_3$", C, W*17); [/asy]
$\textbf{(A) }546\qquad\textbf{(B) }548\qquad\textbf{(C) }550\qquad\textbf{(D) }552\qquad\textbf{(E) }554$

Solution: This seems like a coordinate bashable problem. To do this, we notice that it is easier to graph the equilateral triangle first, then the circles, rather than the other way around. Let's forget the lengths of the radius for a moment and focus instead on the ratio of the circles' radius to $\triangle P_1P_2P_3$ 's side length.
WLOG let $P_1P_2 = 2$ . Place triangle $P_1P_2P_3$ on the coordinate plane with $P_1(0,\sqrt3)$ $P_2(1,0)$ , and $P_3(-1,0)$ . Let $r$ be the radius of the circles.
Now, we find the coordinates of the centers of circles $\omega_1$ and $\omega_2$ . Since $\omega_2$ is tangent to the x-axis at $(1,0)$ , the center of $\omega_2$ is $(1,r)$ . Draw a right triangle with legs parallel to the x and y axes, and with hypotenuse as the segment from the center of $\omega_1$ to $P_1$ . Since the slope of $\overline{P_1P_2}$ is $-\sqrt3$ , the slope of the hypotenuse is $\frac{1}{\sqrt{3}}$ , so the right triangle is $30-60-90$ . It's easy to see that the center of $\omega_1$ is $\left(-\frac{r\sqrt{3}}{2}, \sqrt{3} - \frac{r}{2}\right)$
Since $\omega_1$ and $\omega_2$ are tangent, the distance between the centers is $2r$ , so we have \[\sqrt{\left(1 + \frac{r\sqrt{3}}{2}\right)^2 + \left(\frac{3r}{2} - \sqrt{3}\right)^2} = 2r\] \[\left(1 + \frac{r\sqrt{3}}{2}\right)^2 + \left(\frac{3r}{2} - \sqrt{3}\right)^2 = 4r^2\] \[1 + r\sqrt{3} + \frac{3r^2}{4} + \frac{9r^2}{4} - 3r\sqrt{3} + 3 = 4r^2\] \[4 - 2r\sqrt{3} + 3r^2 = 4r^2\] \[r^2 + 2r\sqrt{3} - 4 = 0\] By the Quadratic Formula, $r = \frac{-2\sqrt{3} \pm \sqrt{12 + 16}}{2} = -\sqrt{3}\pm\sqrt{7}$ .
We take the positive value to get the radius of the circle is $\sqrt{7} - \sqrt{3}$
Therefore, the ratio of the radius to the side length of the equilateral triangle is $\sqrt{7} - \sqrt{3} : 2 = 4 : \frac{8}{\sqrt{7} - \sqrt{3}} = 4 : 2(\sqrt{7} + \sqrt{3})$
The side length of the equilateral triangle is $2(\sqrt{7} + \sqrt{3})$ , so its area is $(\sqrt{7} + \sqrt{3})^2\sqrt{3} = 10\sqrt{3} + 6\sqrt{7} = \sqrt{300} + \sqrt{252} \implies 300 + 252 = \boxed{552}$

Answer: D 552