<|im_start|>system
You are a helpful assistant. You first think about the reasoning process in the mind and then provide the user with the answer. You should try to truely solve the question by yourself without cheating.  <|im_end|>
<|im_start|>user
 Six small circles, each of radius $3$ units, are tangent to a large circle as shown. Each small circle also is tangent to its two neighboring small circles. What is the diameter of the large circle in units? [asy]
draw(Circle((-2,0),1));
draw(Circle((2,0),1));
draw(Circle((-1,1.73205081),1));
draw(Circle((1,1.73205081),1));
draw(Circle((-1,-1.73205081),1));
draw(Circle((1,-1.73205081),1));
draw(Circle((0,0),3));
[/asy] Show your work in <think> </think> tags. And return the final answer in <answer> </answer> tags.<|im_end|>
<|im_start|>assistant
Let me solve this step by step.
<think>
user
18
Six small circles, each of radius $3$ units, are tangent to a large circle as shown. Each small circle also is tangent to its two neighboring small circles. What is the diameter of the large circle in units? [asy]
draw(Circle((-2,0),1));
draw(Circle((2,0),1));
draw(Circle((-1,1.73205081),1));
draw(Circle((1,1.73205081),1));
draw(Circle((-1,-1.73205081),1));
draw(Circle((1,-1.73205081),1));
draw(Circle((0,0),3));
[/asy]
test