Suppose we have 4 circles P , Q , R , S each of radius 1 such that Q is centered at ( 0 , 1 ) , R at ( 2 , 1 ) , S at ( 4 , 1 ) and with P lying in the first quadrant tangent to both R and S .
Form a triangle Δ A B C that circumscribes the 4 circles such that A B is tangent to P and Q , A C is tangent to P and S , and B C is tangent to Q , R and S .
The perimeter of Δ A B C can be written as a + b c , where a , b , c are positive integers with c being square-free. Find a + b + c .
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P R S i s a 2 − 2 − 2 Δ . S i n c e R a n d S a r e g i v e n , P ( 3 , 1 + 3 ) . Let M and N be the points of tangency. So MPSN is a rectangle. Implies MN=PS=2 A C ∣ ∣ P S ∴ s l o p e o f A C = − 3 . ⟹ B C A = 6 0 o . A B ∣ ∣ P Q ∴ s l o p e o f A B = 3 3 . ⟹ A B C = 3 0 o . ⟹ A B C i s a r t . ∠ e d Δ , r t . ∠ e d a t A . ∴ T a n g e n t l e n g t h f r o m A M = 1 ∵ i t i s a s i d e o f a s q u a r e . . T a n g e n t l e n g t h f r o m C = C o t 2 6 0 1 = 3 . S o A C = A M + M N + N C = 1 + 2 + 3 = 3 + 3 . P e r i m e t e r o f 3 0 − 6 0 − 9 0 Δ A B C = ( 1 + 3 + 2 ) ∗ A C = ( 3 + 3 ) 2 = 1 2 + 6 ∗ 3 . a + b + c = 2 1
Nice solution with great graphics. Thanks for posting it. :)
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Letting P , Q , R , S represent the centers of the respective circles, we have that Δ P R S is equilateral with side lengths 2 . Now Δ P R Q is isosceles with ∠ P R Q = 1 2 0 ∘ , and so ∠ P Q R = 3 0 ∘ . Thus Δ P Q S is a 3 0 / 6 0 / 9 0 right triangle with side lengths P S = 2 , Q S = 4 and P Q = 2 3 , giving us a perimeter for Δ P Q S of 6 + 2 3 .
Now as the 4 circles have the same radius we can conclude that Δ A B C is a 3 0 / 6 0 / 9 0 triangle as well. So if we can find the ratio of A B to P S we can multiply this ratio by the perimeter of Δ P Q S to get the perimeter of Δ A B C .
Now draw perpendiculars from P and S to A B intersecting at the respective points M , N . Then since ∠ P A M = 4 5 ∘ and ∠ S C N = 3 0 ∘ we have that
A B = A M + M N + N C = 1 + 2 + 3 = 3 + 3 .
The perimeter of Δ A B C is then
2 ( 3 + 3 ) ∗ ( 6 + 2 3 ) = 1 2 + 6 3 , and so
a + b + c = 1 2 + 6 + 3 = 2 1 .