2007 AMC 10A Problems/Problem 15
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[hide]Problem
Four circles of radius are each tangent to two sides of a square and externally tangent to a circle of radius , as shown. What is the area of the square?
Solution 1
Draw a square connecting the centers of the four small circles of radius . This square has a diagonal of length , as it includes the diameter of the big circle of radius and two radii of the small circles of radius . Therefore, the side length of this square is The radius of the large square has a side length units larger than the one found by connecting the midpoints, so its side length is The area of this square is
Solution 2
We draw the long diagonal of the square. This diagonal yields . We know that the side length in terms of the diagonal is , so our side length is . However, we are trying to look for the area, so squaring yields
See Also
2007 AMC 10A (Problems • Answer Key • Resources) | ||
Preceded by Problem 14 |
Followed by Problem 16 | |
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