Twins in the Trigon

Geometry Level 4

The figure above shows two equal circles of radius r r that are inscribed inside a triangle with side lengths 3, 4, 5.

The two circles share 1 tangent point.

If r r can be expressed as A B \frac AB , where A A and B B are coprime positive integers, find A + B A+B .


The answer is 12.

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6 solutions

Sabhrant Sachan
Jan 9, 2017

From the figure :

tan θ = 3 4 = y x 4 y 3 x = 0 ( 3 y r ) + 2 r + ( 4 x r ) = 5 x + y = 2 \begin{aligned} \tan{\theta} = \dfrac{3}{4} = \dfrac{y}{x} \hspace{10mm} & \boxed{4y-3x=0} \\ (3-y-r)+2r+(4-x-r) = 5 & \hspace{2mm} \boxed{x+y=2} \end{aligned}

y = 6 7 , x = 8 7 \hspace{1mm} y = \dfrac{6}{7} \hspace{1mm},\hspace{1mm} x = \dfrac{8}{7}

x 2 + y 2 = 4 r 2 r = 5 7 \hspace{1mm} x^2+y^2 = 4r^2 \\ \hspace{1mm} \boxed{r = \dfrac{5}{7}}


I missed it, since I pressed the "Discuss Solution " by mistake.

Niranjan Khanderia - 4 years, 4 months ago

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It even happened to me. That's a disgusting feeling.

Swapnil Das - 4 years, 4 months ago

I think tan(theta) should be y/x, not x/y (though the two end up being interchangeable so it doesn't affect the answer).

How do we know that the top (3-y-r) segments are equal?

Narciso Jaramillo - 4 years, 5 months ago

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The tangent segments to a circle from an external point are equal.

Tan(theta) should be y/x , they are not interchangeable thanks for pointing out the mistake .

Sabhrant Sachan - 4 years, 5 months ago
Ahmad Saad
Jan 9, 2017

Really, You inspire me to keep my solution pure and geometric and I to my friend. Nice solution +1111. Can I know your profession?

Vishwash Kumar ΓΞΩ - 4 years, 5 months ago

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I'm a Mechanical Engineer.

Ahmad Saad - 4 years, 5 months ago

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Nice And a geometry fan too. Me too but not upto that.

Vishwash Kumar ΓΞΩ - 4 years, 5 months ago

Nyc One! cheers! imitates my approach though ;)

nibedan mukherjee - 4 years, 4 months ago

From the figure above,

t a n tan 2 Ф = 2Ф= 4 3 \frac{4}{3}

Ф = 26.56505118 Ф=26.56505118

x = x= r t a n 26.56505118 \frac{r}{tan 26.56505118}

t a n tan 2 β = 2β= 3 4 \frac{3}{4}

β = 18.43494882 β=18.43494882

y = y= r t a n 18.43494882 \frac{r}{tan18.43494882}

x + y + 2 r = 5 x + y + 2r = 5

r t a n 26.56505118 + \frac{r}{tan 26.56505118} + r t a n 18.43494882 + 2 r = 5 \frac{r}{tan18.43494882} + 2r = 5

7 r = 5 7r = 5

r = r = 5 7 \frac{5}{7}

A + B = 5 + 7 = A+B=5+7= 12 \boxed{12}

Nicola Mignoni
Jul 29, 2018

Let's consider the circle tangent to the x x -axis. Its center C 1 = ( x , r ) C_1=(x,r) , where r r is the radius and x x an unknown coordinate. The circle is also tangent to the hypotenuse, which equation is y = 3 4 x + 3 y=-\frac{3}{4}x+3 . Hence, we have

3 4 x + r 3 9 16 + 1 = r x = 4 3 r \displaystyle \frac{|\frac{3}{4}x+r-3|}{\sqrt{\frac{9}{16}+1}}=r \hspace{5pt} \Longrightarrow \hspace{5pt} x=4-3r

Considering 3 4 x + r 3 = 3 4 x r + 3 |\frac{3}{4}x+r-3|=-\frac{3}{4}x-r+3 .

So, C 1 = ( 4 3 r , r ) C_1=(4-3r,r) . The same applies for the other center, which coordinates are C 2 = ( r , y ) C_2=(r,y) . Hence

3 4 r + y 3 9 16 + 1 = r y = 3 2 r \displaystyle \frac{|\frac{3}{4}r+y-3|}{\sqrt{\frac{9}{16}+1}}=r \hspace{5pt} \Longrightarrow \hspace{5pt} y=3-2r

Considering 3 4 r + y 3 = 3 4 r y + 3 |\frac{3}{4}r+y-3|=-\frac{3}{4}r-y+3 .

So, C 2 = ( r , 3 2 r ) C_2=(r,3-2r) . The tangent circles have the same radius, so the distance between C 1 C_1 and C 2 C_2 is exactly

( 4 3 r r ) 2 + ( r 3 + 2 r ) 2 = 2 r r = 5 7 \displaystyle \sqrt{(4-3r-r)^2+(r-3+2r)^2}=2r \hspace{5pt} \Longrightarrow \hspace{5pt} r=\frac{5}{7}

considering the smallest of the two possible solutions. Eventually

r = A B = 5 7 A + B = 12 \displaystyle r=\frac{A}{B}=\frac{5}{7} \hspace{5pt} \Longrightarrow \hspace{5pt} A+B=\boxed{12}

Anirudh Sreekumar
Jan 13, 2017

From the figure equating the length of the hypotenuse we get,

2 r + r tan θ 2 + r tan ϕ 2 = 5 ( 1 ) 2r+\dfrac{r}{\tan\dfrac{\theta}{2}}+\dfrac{r}{\tan\dfrac{\phi}{2}}=5 \rightarrow(1)

also we have tan x 2 = 1 cos x sin x \tan\dfrac{x}{2}=\dfrac{1-\cos x}{\sin x}

here sin θ = 4 5 , cos θ = 3 5 , sin ϕ = 3 5 , cos ϕ = 4 5 \sin\theta=\dfrac{4}{5},\cos\theta=\dfrac{3}{5},\sin\phi=\dfrac{3}{5},\cos\phi=\dfrac{4}{5}

thus we get, tan θ 2 = 1 3 5 4 5 = 1 2 \tan\dfrac{\theta}{2}=\dfrac{1-\dfrac{3}{5}}{\dfrac{4}{5}}=\dfrac{1}{2}

and tan ϕ 2 = 1 4 5 3 5 = 1 3 \tan\dfrac{\phi}{2}=\dfrac{1-\dfrac{4}{5}}{\dfrac{3}{5}}=\dfrac{1}{3}

Substituting in ( 1 ) (1) we get,

2 r + 2 r + 3 r = 5 2r+2r+3r=5 or r = 5 7 r=\dfrac{5}{7}

thus the required answer is 5 + 7 = 12 5+7=\boxed{12}

Very elegant solution to this problem.

W Rose - 2 years, 7 months ago

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Thank you!! :)

Anirudh Sreekumar - 2 years, 7 months ago

3-4-5 Triangles Rule!. Thanks for this simply sophisticated solution...

W Rose - 2 years, 1 month ago

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