2014 AMC 10B Problem 23

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23.

A sphere is inscribed in a truncated right circular cone as shown. The volume of the truncated cone is twice that of the sphere. What is the ratio of the radius of the bottom base of the truncated cone to the radius of the top base of the truncated cone?

32\dfrac32

1+52\dfrac{1+\sqrt5}2

3\sqrt3

22

3+52\dfrac{3+\sqrt5}2

Answer: E
Concepts:conespherevolume
Difficulty rating: 2300
Solution:

Let the top radius be 11, the bottom radius be RR, and the inscribed sphere radius be aa.

In the cross-section, the sphere is tangent to the two bases, so the frustum height is 2a2a. A slanted side joins (1,a)(1,a) to (R,a)(R,-a), if the sphere's center is the origin. Its equation is 2ax+(R1)ya(R+1)=0.2ax+(R-1)y-a(R+1)=0. Because this line is tangent to the circle of radius aa, its distance from the origin is aa. Thus a(R+1)4a2+(R1)2=a,\frac{a(R+1)}{\sqrt{4a^2+(R-1)^2}}=a, which simplifies to R=a2R=a^2.

The frustum volume is 13π(R2+R+1)(2a)\frac13\pi(R^2+R+1)(2a) =2aπ3(a4+a2+1)=\frac{2a\pi}{3}(a^4+a^2+1).

This is twice the sphere volume, 8a3π3\frac{8a^3\pi}{3}. Cancelling gives a43a2+1=0a^4-3a^2+1=0, so R23R+1=0R^2-3R+1=0.

Since the bottom radius is larger than the top radius, R>1R>1. Thus R=3+52R=\frac{3+\sqrt5}{2}, and the correct answer is E .

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