An annulus is the region between two concentric circles. The concentric circles in the figure have radii $b$ and $c$, with $b>c$. Let $OX$ be a radius of the larger circle, let $XZ$ be tangent to the smaller circle at $Z$, and let $OY$ be the radius of the larger circle that contains $Z$. Let $a=XZ$, $d=YZ$, and $e=XY$. What is the area of the annulus? [asy] unitsize(1.5cm); defaultpen(0.8); real r1=1.5, r2=2.5; pair O=(0,0); path inner=Circle(O,r1), outer=Circle(O,r2); pair Y=(0,r2), Z=(0,r1), X=intersectionpoint( Z--(Z+(10,0)), outer ); filldraw(outer,lightgray,black); filldraw(inner,white,black); draw(X--O--Y); draw(Y--X--Z); label("$O$",O,SW); label("$X$",X,E); label("$Y$",Y,N); label("$Z$",Z,SW); label("$a$",X--Z,N); label("$b$",0.25*X,SE); label("$c$",O--Z,E); label("$d$",Y--Z,W); label("$e$",Y*0.65 + X*0.35,SW); defaultpen(0.5); dot(O); dot(X); dot(Z); dot(Y); [/asy]
The area of the large circle is $\pi b^2$, the area of the small one is $\pi c^2$, hence the shaded area is $\pi(b^2-c^2)$. From the Pythagorean Theorem for the right triangle $OXZ$ we have $a^2 + c^2 = b^2$, hence $b^2-c^2=a^2$ and thus the shaded area is $\fbox{\pi a^2}$.