Problem:
Circles have radius and centers respectively. and intersect at , and intersect at , and intersect at , in such a way that , , and . Find angle (degrees).
Problem:
Circles have radius and centers respectively. and intersect at , and intersect at , and intersect at , in such a way that , , and . Find angle (degrees).
Solution:
Using a little trig, we have , , and (see left diagram). Call these , and , respectively. By the law of cosines, , therefore
In the right diagram below we let and see that , hence . Using whatever trig identities you prefer you can find that , and of course . Now simplification yields , so .
Note that this means that if a regular pentagon, hexagon, and decagon are inscribed in a circle, then we can take one side from each and form a right triangle.
