Chord Circle Triad

Geometry Level 4

In the large circle, one of the three green circles of identical radii is the incircle of the equilateral triangle whose side length is 12 3 12\sqrt{3} , whereas two other circles are tangent to the chord and its circumference.

Determine the radius of the large circle.


The answer is 25.

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2 solutions

Chew-Seong Cheong
Jan 20, 2021

Label the triangle A B C ABC , the chord D E DE , A L AL be the median of A B C \triangle ABC , the centers of the big circle, the middle green circle, and the right green circle be O O , P P , and Q Q , Q M QM perpendicular to D E DE , and the tangent point of the right green circle and the big circle be N N . Note that O O , Q Q , and N N are colinear.

Let the radius of the green circles be r r and that of the big circle be R R . The median of A B C \triangle ABC , A L = 12 3 sin 6 0 = 18 AL = 12 \sqrt 3 \sin 60^\circ = 18 . Note that center P P is the centroid of A B C \triangle ABC . Therefore r = 1 3 18 = 6 r = \dfrac 13 \cdot 18 = 6 .

By Pythagorean theorem :

O Q 2 O P 2 = P Q 2 ( O N N Q ) 2 ( O A A P ) 2 = ( L C + C M ) 2 ( O N N Q ) 2 ( O A ( A L P L ) ) 2 = ( L C + Q M cot 6 0 ) 2 ( R r ) 2 ( R 18 + r ) 2 = ( 6 3 + r 3 ) ( R 6 ) 2 ( R 12 ) 2 = ( 6 3 + 2 3 ) 2 12 R 108 = 192 R = 300 12 = 25 \begin{aligned} OQ^2-OP^2 & = PQ^2 \\ (ON-NQ)^2 - (OA-AP)^2 & = (LC+CM)^2 \\ (ON-NQ)^2 - (OA-(AL-PL))^2 & = (LC + QM \cot 60^\circ)^2 \\ (R-r)^2 - (R-18+r)^2 & = \left(6\sqrt 3 + \frac r{\sqrt 3}\right) \\ (R-6)^2 - (R-12)^2 & = (6\sqrt 3 + 2 \sqrt 3)^2 \\ 12R - 108 & = 192 \\ \implies R & = \frac {300}{12} = \boxed{25} \end{aligned}

Saya Suka
Jan 19, 2021

From the given side, we know that the triangle height is 18 and green circle's radius is ⅓ of that, so r = 6. The distance between the centers of 2 closest green circles is double the horizontal distance from the center of middle green circle to its fencing triangle, so it is 2 x (1/2) x (2/3) x 12√3 = 8√3. Connect the centers of two closest green circles and the largest circle's to get a right triangle with sides 8√3, x and x + 6.
(x + 6)² = (8√3)² + x²
12x + 36 = 3 x 64
x = 16 - 3 = 13

Answer
= (x + 6) + 6
= 25

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