Question

Circles $A,$ $B,$ and $C$ are externally tangent to each other and internally tangent to circle $D.$ Circles $B$ and $C$ are congruent. Circle $A$ has radius $1$ and passes through the center of $D.$ What is the radius of circle $B?$

$\dfrac{2}{3}$

$\dfrac{\sqrt{3}}{2}$

$\dfrac{7}{8}$

$\dfrac{8}{9}$

$\dfrac{1 + \sqrt{3}}{3}$

Solution:

Circle $A$ has radius $1$ and passes through the center of $D$ while being internally tangent to $D,$ so $D$ has radius $2.$

Place the center of $D$ at the origin, with $A$ centered at $(-1, 0).$ By symmetry, $B$ has center $(x, y)$ and radius $r,$ with $C$ its mirror image across the horizontal axis, so the two congruent circles touch on that axis and $y = r.$

Internal tangency to $D$ gives $x^2 + y^2 = (2 - r)^2,$ and external tangency to $A$ gives $(x + 1)^2 + y^2 = (1 + r)^2.$

Subtracting and using $y = r$ yields $x = \tfrac23$ and $r = \tfrac89.$ The radius of circle $B$ is $\tfrac89.$

Thus, the correct answer is D.

2004 AMC 12A Problem 19

Solution:

Problem 19 in Other Years