2018 AMC 10A Problems/Problem 15
Contents
[hide]Problem
Two circles of radius 5 are externally tangent to each other and are internally tangent to a circle of radius 13 at points and , as shown in the diagram. The distance can be written in the form , where and are relatively prime positive integers. What is ?
Solution 1
Let the center of the surrounding circle be . The circle that is tangent at point will have point as the center. Similarly, the circle that is tangent at point will have point as the center. Connect , , , and . Now observe that is similar to . Writing out the ratios, we get Therefore, our answer is .
Solution 2
Let the center of the large circle be . Let the common tangent of the two smaller circles be . Draw the two radii of the large circle, and and the two radii of the smaller circles to point . Draw ray and . This sets us up with similar triangles, which we can solve. The length of is equal to by Pythagorean Theorem, the length of the hypotenuse is 8, and the other leg is 5. Using similar triangles, is 13, and therefore half of is . Doubling gives , which results in . Nice
See Also
2018 AMC 10A (Problems • Answer Key • Resources) | ||
Preceded by Problem 14 |
Followed by Problem 16 | |
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 10 Problems and Solutions |
The problems on this page are copyrighted by the Mathematical Association of America's American Mathematics Competitions.