Sigma Percentile
JEE Main 2019 (11 January)
LEVELJEE Main

Animated Solution for Mathematics - Circles: Two circles with equal radii are intersecting at the points and . The tangent at the point to one of the circles passes through the centre of the other circle. Then the distance between the centres of these circles is :

Select Answer:

Visualized Solution

Visualizing the Intersection Points

  • Intersection points: and
  • The common chord lies on the y-axis.

Locating the Centers by Symmetry

  • Circles have equal radii.
  • Centers lie on the perpendicular bisector of the common chord.
  • The perpendicular bisector is the x-axis.
  • Let centers be and .

Calculating the Radius Squared

  • Radius is the distance between and .
  • Using the distance formula:

Simplifying the Radius

Equation of the First Circle

  • Standard form:
  • Substitute center and :

Applying the Tangent Formula

  • Equation of tangent at is .
  • For , tangent at is:

Simplifying the Tangent Equation

  • Expand:
  • Cancel :

Using the Second Center Condition

  • The tangent passes through .
  • Substitute and :

Solving for

  • Since represents a positive coordinate distance, .

Final Distance Calculation

  • Distance between and is .
  • Distance
  • Final Answer: 2

The Sigma Insight: Equation of Tangent and Normal

Solution Diagram

Analyzing the Geometry

Imagine two identical circles symmetric about the -axis. They intersect at the points and .
Because the circles are mirror images across the -axis, their centers must lie on the -axis. Let the centers be located at and .

Defining the Circle Equation

The radius squared, , is the distance from the center to the intersection point . We calculate this as:
Consequently, the equation for the circle centered at is:

Applying the Tangent Condition

We utilize the method to find the equation of the tangent at the point . Substituting the point into the circle equation, we obtain:
Expanding and simplifying this expression yields:

Final Calculation

The problem implies that the tangent at passes through the center of the other circle, which is located at . Substituting these coordinates into our tangent equation:
Since the centers are at and , the distance between them is . Therefore, the distance between the centers is 2.

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