Three circles of radius 5 are drawn so that each touches the other two. Find the radius R of the outer circle that touches all of the three circles, as shown in the figure below. The radius R can be expressed as b a + c for positive integers a , b and c , where b is square-free. Enter a + b + c
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This was the exact question I got for state maths olympiad many years ago. I got it wrong because it used an indirect noun. Not calling the largest circle as circle, but a thing that's wearable on a wrist (this a challenge only because no picture was provided). Yeah, like bracelets vs bangles. We use the same word for that. I've only ever wear rubber bands around mine, so of course I took it as a malleable shape in answering the problem. I was disappointed, especially when a bangle problem is way easier than a bracelet one.
Joint the centers of the three congruent circles with line segments and we get an equilateral △ A B C with side length 1 0 . Let the center of the large circle be O . We note that O is also the centroid of △ A B C . Let O N be a median of △ A B C . Then O N = 2 3 × 1 0 = 5 3 . For a triangle the distance between centroid and vertex is twice the distance between the centroid to the base. Then O C = 3 2 O N = 3 2 × 5 3 = 3 1 0 . Since the radius of the big circle R = O P = O C + C P = 3 1 0 + 5 . Therefore a + b + c = 1 0 + 3 + 5 = 1 8 .
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As shown above, in △ O A F , cos ∠ O A F = O A A F ⟹ cos 3 0 ∘ = O A 5 ⟹ O A = cos 3 0 ∘ 5 = 3 1 0 The radius of the larger circle is, R = O G = O A + A G = 3 1 0 + 5 Therefore, R = 3 1 0 + 5 ⟹ a + b + c = 1 8
Alternative: Applying the Kissing Circle Theorem , k 1 = k 2 = k 3 = − 5 1 ⟹ k 4 = k 1 + k 2 + k 3 + 2 k 1 k 2 + k 2 k 3 + k 3 k 1 = − 5 3 + 5 2 3 ⟹ R = k 4 1 = 2 3 − 3 5 = 3 1 0 3 + 1 5 = 3 1 0 3 + 5