Too easy geometry!

Geometry Level 2

The centers of three externally tangent circles form a right angled triangle with legs 6 6 units and 8 8 units. What is the sum of the circumferences of the circles?

28 π 28\pi . 25 π 25\pi . 27 π 27\pi . 24 π 24\pi .

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1 solution

Henry U
Oct 26, 2018

We recognize the right triangle with sides of 6 6 and 8 8 as a scaled up version of the 3-4-5-triangle. Therefore the third side of the triangle is 10 10 units. If the radii of the circles are a a , b b and c c , we can set up the equations

a + b = 6 a+b=6

a + c = 8 a+c=8

b + c = 10 b+c=10

We can solve this linear system of equations to get

a = 2 a=2

b = 4 b=4

c = 6 c=6

The circumference of a circle with radius r r is given by 2 π r 2 \pi r , so the circumferences of the three circles are

2 π a = 4 π 2 \pi \cdot a = 4\pi

2 π b = 8 π 2 \pi \cdot b = 8\pi

2 π c = 12 π 2 \pi \cdot c = 12\pi

Their sum is

4 π + 8 π + 12 π = 24 π 4\pi + 8\pi + 12\pi = \boxed{24\pi}

You don't have to solve for a , b , c a,b,c . The sum of the circumfence is equal to π ( 2 a + 2 b + 2 c ) = π ( ( a + b ) + ( b + c ) + ( c + a ) ) = π ( 6 + 10 + 8 ) \pi(2a+2b+2c)=\pi((a+b)+(b+c)+(c+a))=\pi(6+10+8)

X X - 2 years, 7 months ago

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That's so much simpler! Post it as your own solution, it's ingenious!

Henry U - 2 years, 7 months ago

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