Let be a sphere of radius 4 and be a sphere of radius 2 . Suppose that the center of lies on the surface of . The intersection of the surfaces of and is a circle. Compute this circle's circumference.
Solution
Take a cross-section of a plane through the centers of and , call them and , respectively. The resulting figure is two circles, one of radius 4 and center , and the other with radius 2 and center on the circle of radius 4 . Let these two circles intersect at and . Note that is a diameter of the desired circle, so we will find . Focus on triangle . The sides of this triangle are and . The height from to is , and because , the height from to is . Then the distance is two times this, or . Thus, the circumference of the desired circle is .
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