Difference between revisions of "2015 AMC 12A Problems/Problem 11"

(Problem)
 
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On a sheet of paper, Isabella draws a circle of radius <math>2</math>, a circle of radius <math>3</math>, and all possible lines simultaneously tangent to both circles. Isabella notices that she has drawn exactly <math>k \ge  0</math> lines. How many different values of <math>k</math> are possible?
 
On a sheet of paper, Isabella draws a circle of radius <math>2</math>, a circle of radius <math>3</math>, and all possible lines simultaneously tangent to both circles. Isabella notices that she has drawn exactly <math>k \ge  0</math> lines. How many different values of <math>k</math> are possible?
  
<math> \textbf{(A)}\ 2 \qquad\textbf{(B)}\ 3 \qquad\textbf{(C)}\ 4 \qquad\textbf{(D)}}\ 5\qquad\textbf{(E)}\ 6</math>
+
<math> \textbf{(A)}\ 2 \qquad\textbf{(B)}\ 3 \qquad\textbf{(C)}\ 4 \qquad\textbf{(D)}\ 5\qquad\textbf{(E)}\ 6</math>
  
 
==Solution==
 
==Solution==

Latest revision as of 12:24, 29 March 2015

Problem

On a sheet of paper, Isabella draws a circle of radius $2$, a circle of radius $3$, and all possible lines simultaneously tangent to both circles. Isabella notices that she has drawn exactly $k \ge  0$ lines. How many different values of $k$ are possible?

$\textbf{(A)}\ 2 \qquad\textbf{(B)}\ 3 \qquad\textbf{(C)}\ 4 \qquad\textbf{(D)}\ 5\qquad\textbf{(E)}\ 6$

Solution

Isabella can get $0$ lines if the circles are concentric, $1$ if internally tangent, $2$ if overlapping, $3$ if externally tangent, and $4$ if non-overlapping and not externally tangent. There are $\boxed{\textbf{(D)}\ 5}$ values of $k$.

See Also

2015 AMC 12A (ProblemsAnswer KeyResources)
Preceded by
Problem 10
Followed by
Problem 12
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25
All AMC 12 Problems and Solutions