Inscribed and Circumscribed Spheres.

Geometry Level 3

In the diagram above, a sphere is inscribed in a truncated cone such that the volume of the truncated cone is twice the volume of the inscribed sphere and another sphere is circumscribed about the truncated cone.

Let m m be the radius of the smaller base of the truncated cone and R R be the radius of the circumscribed sphere.

If R m \dfrac{R}{m} can be expressed as R m = a b ( c + c ) \dfrac{R}{m} = \dfrac{a}{b}(c + \sqrt{c}) , where a , b a,b and c c are coprime positive integers, find a b c a * b - c .


The answer is 19.

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1 solution

Rocco Dalto
Feb 7, 2020

First we find w w in terms of m m using the inscribed sphere below.

Using the fact that tangents to a circle from an outside point are congruent we obtain the diagram above.

The height h h of the truncated cone is h = 2 r h = 2r

Using right A B C \triangle{ABC} we have:

( w + m ) 2 = ( w m ) 2 + 4 r 2 w 2 + 2 w m + m 2 = w 2 2 w m + m 2 + 4 r 2 4 w m = 4 r 2 r 2 = w m (w + m)^2 = (w - m)^2 + 4r^2 \implies w^2 + 2wm + m^2 = w^2 - 2wm + m^2 + 4r^2 \implies 4wm = 4r^2 \implies r^2 = wm \implies

r = w m r = \sqrt{wm} .

The volume of the inscribed sphere V s = 4 3 π ( w m ) 3 2 V_{s} = \dfrac{4}{3}\pi(wm)^{\frac{3}{2}}

and

The volume of the truncated cone is V T = 2 π 3 ( w 2 + w m + m 2 ) ( w m ) 1 2 V_{T} = \dfrac{2\pi}{3}(w^2 + wm + m^2)(wm)^{\frac{1}{2}}

V T = 2 V s w 2 + w m + m 2 = 4 w m w 2 3 w m + m 2 = 0 V_{T} = 2V_{s} \implies w^2 + wm + m^2 = 4wm \implies w^2 - 3wm + m^2 = 0 \implies w = ( 3 ± 5 2 ) m w = (\dfrac{3 \pm \sqrt{5}}{2})m

Since w m > 1 \dfrac{w}{m} > 1 we choose w = ( 3 + 5 2 ) m w = (\dfrac{3 + \sqrt{5}}{2})m

Next we use the circumscribed sphere to find R m \dfrac{R}{m} .

R 2 = z 2 + w 2 = R 2 R^2 = z^2 +w^2 = R^2

R 2 = ( h z ) 2 + m 2 R^2 = (h - z)^2 + m^2

z 2 + w 2 = h 2 2 h z + z 2 + m 2 z = h 2 w 2 + m 2 2 h \implies z^2 + w^2 = h^2 - 2hz + z^2 + m^2 \implies z = \dfrac{h^2 - w^2 + m^2}{2h}

Using the values for w w and h h above and simplifying we obtain:

z = 7 + 5 4 2 3 + 5 m z = \dfrac{7 + \sqrt{5}}{4\sqrt{2}\sqrt{3 + \sqrt{5}}} m

Using R 2 = z 2 + w 2 R^2 = z^2 + w^2 and simplifying we obtain:

R = 3 4 5 ( 7 + 3 5 ) 3 + 5 m R = \dfrac{3}{4}\sqrt{\dfrac{5(7 + 3\sqrt{5})}{3 + \sqrt{5}}} m \implies

R m = 3 4 5 ( 7 + 3 5 ) 3 + 5 = \dfrac{R}{m} = \dfrac{3}{4}\sqrt{\dfrac{5(7 + 3\sqrt{5})}{3 + \sqrt{5}}} = 3 8 5 ( 7 + 3 5 ) ( 3 5 ) = \dfrac{3}{8}\sqrt{5(7 + 3\sqrt{5})(3 - \sqrt{5})} =

3 8 30 + 10 5 = 3 8 ( 5 + 5 ) 2 = \dfrac{3}{8}\sqrt{30 + 10\sqrt{5}} = \dfrac{3}{8}\sqrt{(5 + \sqrt{5})^2} = 3 8 ( 5 + 5 ) = a b ( c + c ) a b c = 19 \dfrac{3}{8}(5 + \sqrt{5}) = \dfrac{a}{b}(c + \sqrt{c}) \implies a * b - c = \boxed{19} .

Why not 0.375*(5+sqrt(5))?

Saya Suka - 1 year, 4 months ago

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It can be simplified to 3 8 ( 5 + 5 ) \dfrac{3}{8}(5 + \sqrt{5}) .

Rocco Dalto - 1 year, 4 months ago

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This is the same issue as the last problem, though - you only get that particular unsimplified form if you use a certain solution root. If you're simplifying along the way, you get the neater form posted by @Saya Suka .

Perhaps an alternative would be to ask for the value of the ratio; you can insist on a certain level of precision by asking for 1 0 d S \lfloor 10^d \cdot S \rfloor as a solution. I get that this hides the elegance of the "true" form, but it would avoid this issue.

(By the way, this is an elegant set of shapes - the golden ratio is cropping up everywhere in my solution.)

Chris Lewis - 1 year, 4 months ago

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@Chris Lewis I would like to repost the problem using the simplified form, but people had done the problem already.

I restated the problem as follows:

If R m \dfrac{R}{m} can be expressed as R m = a b ( c + c ) \dfrac{R}{m} = \dfrac{a}{b}(c + \sqrt{c}) , where a , b a,b and c c are coprime positive integers, find a c + b a * c + b .

This way the result is 19 19 .

By the way, you could write R m = 3 5 4 ϕ \dfrac{R}{m} = \dfrac{3\sqrt{5}}{4}\phi .

Rocco Dalto - 1 year, 4 months ago

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@Rocco Dalto I was about to say "good save" but isn't the ratio 3 8 ( 5 + 5 ) \frac{3}{\red8} (5+\sqrt5) ? (So you could change the required answer to a b c ab-c , I suppose!)

Chris Lewis - 1 year, 4 months ago

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@Chris Lewis Thanks. I made a mistake and accidently wrote 3 4 \dfrac{3}{4} .

Rocco Dalto - 1 year, 4 months ago

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