Question

On a sheet of paper, Isabella draws a circle of radius $2,$ a circle of radius $3,$ and all possible lines simultaneously tangent to both circles. Isabella notices that she has drawn exactly $k \ge 0$ lines. How many different values of $k$ are possible?

$2$

$3$

$4$

$5$

$6$

Solution:

The number of common tangent lines depends on the relative position of the two circles:

If the smaller circle is inside the larger, there are $0$ tangents. If it is internally tangent, there is $1.$ If the circles intersect at two points, there are $2.$ If they are externally tangent, there are $3.$ If they are separated, there are $4.$

Thus $k$ can be any of $0, 1, 2, 3, 4,$ which gives $5$ possible values.

Thus, the correct answer is D.

2015 AMC 12A Problem 11

Solution:

Problem 11 in Other Years