Two congruent circles are inscribed in a unit square A B C D . What is the length of E B ?
Submit ⌊ 1 0 5 ⋅ E B ⌋ .
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Much better than mine. +1 +1 +1
Note that you don't need to compute t in the middle of your calculation. Here's what I would have done:
Since we got 1 − t 3 = t + t 2 , then 1 − t 2 = t + t 3 ⟹ E B = cot θ = 2 t 1 − t 2 = 2 t t + t 3 = 2 1 + t 2 .
And because we know that f ( X ) = X 3 + X 2 + X − 1 = 0 has a root t , then f ( X ) = 0 has a root t 2 .
X X + X + X − 1 = 0 ⇒ X ( X + 1 ) = ( 1 − X ) ⇒ X ( X + 1 ) 2 = ( 1 − X ) 2 ⇒ X 3 + X 2 − 3 X − 1 = 0
The rightmost equation above has a root t 2 . By Cardano's method.... can you finish it off?
Let
F
,
G
,
H
,
J
be contact points as seen in the figure. Let
K
,
L
be the centers of the circles and
M
the intersection of
A
E
with
J
F
. Denote
∠
K
A
F
by
θ
.
Then,
∠
K
A
G
=
θ
,
∠
G
K
M
=
∠
M
L
H
=
2
θ
.
Hence, we have
J F ⇒ 1 ⇒ cos 2 θ = J L + L M + M K + K F = r + cos 2 θ r + cos 2 θ r + r = 1 − 2 r 2 r ( 1 ) Moreover, on △ K A F ,
tan ( ∠ K A F ) = A F K F ⇒ tan θ = 1 − r r ( 2 ) Furthermore, cos 2 θ = 1 + tan 2 θ 1 − tan 2 θ ( 3 ) .
Combining ( 1 ) , ( 2 ) and ( 3 ) ,
1 − 2 r 2 r = 1 + ( 1 − r r ) 2 1 − ( 1 − r r ) 2 ⇔ … ⇔ 4 r 3 − 8 r 2 + 6 r − 1 = 0 By Cardano's method , this cubic equation gives
r = 6 1 ( 4 − 3 3 3 3 − 1 7 2 + 3 3 3 3 − 1 7 ) ≈ 0 . 2 2 8 1 5 5 4 9 3 6 5 3 9 6 1 Finaly, on △ E A B ,
tan
(
∠
E
A
B
)
=
A
B
E
B
⇒
tan
2
θ
=
1
E
B
⇒
E
B
=
1
−
tan
2
θ
2
tan
θ
⇒
E
B
=
1
−
(
1
−
r
r
)
2
2
1
−
r
r
⇒
E
B
=
1
−
2
r
2
r
(
1
−
r
)
Substituting the value we found previously, we get
E
B
≈
0
.
6
4
7
7
9
8
8
7
1
2
6
1
0
3
9
.
For the answer,
⌊
1
0
5
E
B
⌋
=
6
4
7
7
9
.
Let r denote the radius of the two identical circles. And for simplicities sake, define 0 < h < 1 as the length E B .
The radius of the incircle of a triangle can be expressed as A = r ⋅ s , where A denotes the area of the triangle, and s as the semiperimeter of the triangle.
Let us focus on the bottom right-triangle, its area A is simply 2 h . By Pythagorean theorem , the hypotenuse of this right-triangle is 1 + h 2 , and so its semiperimeter is s = 2 1 ( 1 + h + 1 + h 2 ) . Thus, we can express r in terms of h alone.
A = r s ⇔ r = s A = 1 + h + 1 + h 2 h
Let us rotate the graph picture and plot these points on the Cartesian plane as such:
The equation of the straight line E A can be determined as y = h x + ( 1 − h )
And because the bottom left circle (it was previously a top right circle) is tangent to the x -axis, y -axis, and the straight line E A , the equation of this circle of radius r satisfy ( x − r ) 2 + ( y − r ) 2 = r 2 . Substituting y = h x + ( 1 − h ) , we get ( x − r ) 2 + ( h x + 1 − h − r ) 2 = r 2 ⇔ x 2 ( h 2 + 1 ) + x ( − 2 r + 2 h ( 1 − h − r ) ) + ( 1 − h − r ) 2 = 0 .
The above is a quadratic equation whose discriminant (in x ) is 0, ( − 2 r ) 2 − 4 ( h 2 + 1 ) ( 1 − h − r ) ( 2 h + ( 1 − h − r ) ) = 0 . Lastly, we substitute r = 1 + h + 1 + h 2 h , and we can get 2 h 3 − 2 h 2 + 2 h − 1 = 0 . By Cardano's method , E B = h = 3 1 ( 1 − 3 1 3 + 3 3 3 3 2 + 3 4 1 3 + 3 3 3 ) ≈ 0 . 6 4 7 7 9 8 8 . Hence, ⌊ 1 0 5 ⋅ E B ⌋ = 6 4 7 7 9 .
Very nicely done. Did you make use of the discriminant being 0? Had you seen this one before?
Let two circles radii equal to x, CE=b+x and EB=c+x. Write the following relations from figure
b+c+2x=1, on line CB
[(c-b)/2]^2+x^2=[(1/2)-x]^2, on tangent AE between two circles
(1-x+c)^2-(c+x)^2=1, on right triangle AEB
Solve with WolframAlpha, x=0.228155, c=0.419643,
EB=c+x=0.647799
Answer = 64779
Darn I put in the radius instead of EB
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Let the radius of the congruent circle be r and ∠ A E B = θ . The the length B C = 1 is given by:
r + r cot 2 θ + r cot ( 9 0 ∘ − 2 θ ) + r r ( 2 + cot 2 θ + tan 2 θ ) ⟹ 2 + t 1 + t = 1 = 1 = r 1 Let t = tan 2 θ
Similarly for A B :
r cot ( 4 5 ∘ − 2 θ ) + r ⟹ 1 − t 1 + t + 1 = 1 = r 1
Therefore.
2 + t 1 + t t t 2 + t + 1 ( 1 − t ) ( t 2 + t + 1 ) 1 − t 3 t 3 + t 2 + t − 1 = 1 − t 1 + t + 1 = 1 − t 1 + t = t + t 2 = t + t 2 = 0
Solving for t using Cardano's method , we get t = tan 2 θ = 3 2 7 1 7 + 2 7 1 1 + 3 2 7 1 7 − 2 7 1 1 − 3 1 ≈ 0 . 5 4 3 6 8 9 0 1 3 . Note that E B = cot θ = 2 t 1 − t 2 ≈ 0 . 6 4 7 7 9 8 8 7 1 ⟹ ⌊ 1 0 5 ⋅ E B ⌋ = 6 4 7 7 9 .