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Geometry Difficulty 2.9 Junior Find the answer

with centers) (2,4)(2,4) and (14,9)(14,9) have radii 44 and 99, respectively. The equation of a common external tangent to the circles can be written in the form y=mx+by=mx+b with m>0m>0. What is bb?

AMC12 2006A 19.png

Pick one

Solution

Let L1L_1 be the line that goes through (2,4)(2,4) and (14,9)(14,9), and let L2L_2 be the line y=mx+by=mx+b. If we let θ\theta be the measure of the acute angle formed by L1L_1 and the x-axis, then tanθ=512\tan\theta=\frac{5}{12}. L1L_1 clearly bisects the angle formed by L2L_2 and the x-axis, so m=tan2θ=2tanθ1tan2θ=120119m=\tan{2\theta}=\frac{2\tan\theta}{1-\tan^2{\theta}}=\frac{120}{119}. We also know that L1L_1 and L2L_2 intersect at a point on the x-axis. The equation of L1L_1 is y=512x+196y=\frac{5}{12}x+\frac{19}{6}, so the coordinate of this point is (385,0)\left(-\frac{38}{5},0\right). Hence the equation of L2L_2 is y=120119x+912119y=\frac{120}{119}x+\frac{912}{119}, so b=912119b=\frac{912}{119}, and our answer choice is E\boxed{\mathrm{E}}.

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Source: NuminaMath-1.5, licensed Apache-2.0. Statement and solution reproduced as published; topic and difficulty added by this site.