Engineering Board Exam Reviewer · Circles: Chords, Tangents and Secants · hard

Two circles with radii 5 and 12 have centers 13 units apart. Find the length of their common chord.

  1. 4.62
  2. 9.23
  3. 12
  4. 10

Answer

B. 9.23

Solution

Since 52+122=132, the circles meet at right angles and the common chord is 2(5)(12)/13=120/13 9.23.

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