2008 AMC 12A Problems/Problem 13

Revision as of 16:08, 20 June 2019 by Fourth dimension (talk | contribs) (Problem)
The following problem is from both the 2008 AMC 12A #13 and 2008 AMC 10A #16, so both problems redirect to this page.

Problem

Points $A$ and $B$ lie on a circle centered at $O$, and $\angle AOB = 60^\circ$. A second circle is internally tangent to the first and tangent to both $\overline{OA}$ and $\overline{OB}$. What is the ratio of the area of the smaller circle to that of the larger circle?

$\mathrm{(A)}\ \frac{1}{16}\qquad\mathrm{(B)}\ \frac{1}{9}\qquad\mathrm{(C)}\ \frac{1}{8}\qquad\mathrm{(D)}\ \frac{1}{6}\qquad\mathrm{(E)}\ \frac{1}{4}$

Solution

[asy]size(200); defaultpen(fontsize(10)); pair O=(0,0), A=(3,0), B=(3/2,3/2*3^.5), C=(3^.5,1), D=(3^.5,0), F=(1.5*3^.5,1.5); picture p = new picture;  draw(p,Circle(O,0.2)); clip(p,O--C--A--cycle); add(p); draw(Circle(O,3)); dot(A); dot(B); dot(C); dot(O); draw(A--O--B); draw(O--C--D); draw(C--F); draw(D-(0.2,0)--D-(0.2,-0.2)--D-(0,-0.2)); draw(Circle(C,1)); label("\(30^{\circ}\)",(0.65,0.15),O); label("\(r\)",(C+D)/2,E); label("\(2r\)",(O+C)/2,NNE); label("\(O\)",O,SW); label("\(r\)",(C+F)/2,SE); label("\(R\)",(O+A)/2-(0,0.3),S); label("\(P\)",C,NW); label("\(Q\)",D,SE);[/asy]

Let $P$ be the center of the small circle with radius $r$, and let $Q$ be the point where the small circle is tangent to $OA$. Also, let $C$ be the point where the small circle is tangent to the big circle with radius $R$.

Then $PQO$ is a right triangle, and a $30-60-90$ triangle at that. Therefore, $OP=2PQ$.

Since $OP=OC-PC=OC-r=R-r$, we have $R-r=2PQ$, or $R-r=2r$, or $\frac{1}{3}=\frac{r}{R}$.

Then the ratio of areas will be $\frac{1}{3}$ squared, or $\frac{1}{9}\Rightarrow \boxed{\text{B}}$.

See also

2008 AMC 12A (ProblemsAnswer KeyResources)
Preceded by
Problem 12
Followed by
Problem 14
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
2008 AMC 10A (ProblemsAnswer KeyResources)
Preceded by
Problem 15
Followed by
Problem 17
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. AMC logo.png