Cone of tangents

Geometry Level 5

A sphere of radius 5 is centered at ( 1 , 5 , 4 ) ( 1, 5, 4) . Point A is at ( 5 , 10 , 16 ) (5, 10 , 16) . Consider the cone formed by all the tangents from point A to the sphere. Find the volume of this cone.

Give your answer to 1 decimal place.


The answer is 266.3.

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1 solution

Maria Kozlowska
Jan 23, 2017

Let O O denote the sphere center. Distance A O = ( 5 1 ) 2 + ( 10 5 ) 2 + ( 16 4 ) 2 = 185 AO=\sqrt{(5-1)^2+(10-5)^2+(16-4)^2}=\sqrt{185} . Dimensions of the cone can be obtained in 2D by constructing a circle of radius 5 and an apex distanced 185 \sqrt{185} from the center of the circle.

Applying Pythagorean theorem:

A B = 4 10 AB=4 \sqrt{10}

A B O = 10 10 B D = 2 × A B O / A O 4.65 \triangle ABO=10\sqrt{10} \Rightarrow BD =2 \times \triangle ABO / AO \approx 4.65 .

A D = A B 2 B D 2 11.76 AD = \sqrt{AB^2-BD^2} \approx 11.76

r = B D , h = A D r=BD, h=AD .

V = 1 3 π r 2 h 266.3 V=\frac{1}{3} \pi r^2 h \approx \boxed{266.3}

Greetings. I got 266.3 and it marked me wrong.

Steven Chase - 4 years, 4 months ago

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I also got the result 266.3 via simplification by coordinates' transformation.

Since it was marked as incorrect I thought one had to reduce the cone volume by the spherical pig located into the cone ;-) .

On the whole you gave an interesting, elegant and challenging problem (as always).

Andreas Wendler - 4 years, 4 months ago

I too got the answer as 266.34895 with Radius = 5 sqrt(32/37) and height 160/sqrt(185)

Ujjwal Rane - 4 years, 4 months ago

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