The diameter of the circle shown above is
C
D
. If
C
D
=
7
4
,
C
P
=
7
7
, and
P
B
=
3
3
, what is the measure of
∠
B
P
C
in degrees?
note: The figure is not drawn to scale.
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Triangle
O
P
B
has sides
B P = 3 3
O B = 2 1 × 7 4 = 3 7
O P = 3 7 + 3 = 4 0
From a law of cosines
cos ( ∠ O P B ) = 2 × 4 0 × 3 3 4 0 2 + 3 3 2 − 3 7 2 = 2 1
∠ O P B = arccos 2 1 = 6 0 ∘
(
D
P
)
=
(
C
P
)
−
(
C
D
)
=
7
7
−
7
4
=
3
(
O
D
)
=
2
(
C
D
)
=
3
7
(
O
A
)
=
(
O
D
)
=
3
7
(
O
P
)
=
(
O
D
)
+
(
D
P
)
=
3
7
+
3
=
4
0
(
P
A
)
(
P
B
)
=
(
P
D
)
(
P
C
)
⇒
(
P
A
)
⋅
3
3
=
3
⋅
7
7
⇒
(
P
A
)
=
7
If
θ
is the angle we are looking for then by applying the cosine law on the triangle OAP we get:
(
O
A
)
2
=
(
O
P
)
2
+
(
P
A
)
2
−
2
⋅
(
O
P
)
(
P
A
)
cos
θ
⇒
1
3
6
9
=
1
6
0
0
+
9
−
2
⋅
4
0
⋅
7
⋅
cos
θ
⇒
cos
θ
=
2
1
⇒
θ
=
6
0
∘
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( P A ) ( 3 3 ) = ( 3 ) ( 7 7 ) ⟹ P A = 7
Therefore, B A = 3 3 − 7 = 2 6 .
A line perpendicular to a chord of a circle and containing the center of the circle, bisects the chord and its major and minor arcs. Thus,
B E = A E = 1 3
In right △ P E O , P O = 4 0 and P E = 2 0 .
It follows that,
cos ∠ B P C = 4 0 2 0 ⟹ ∠ B P C = cos − 1 ( 2 1 ) = 6 0 ∘