Maths Olympiad Prep

Track / Stage 4 / 278 of 340 #538 of 1964

Problem 538

AMC 12 late, AIME early
Geometry Difficulty 4.9 Find the answer

[ \quad Tangents to Spheres \quad ]

In a regular triangular pyramid SABCS A B C ( SS - the apex), the side of the base is 6, and the height of the pyramid SHS H is 15\sqrt{15}. A plane passes through point BB perpendicular to line ASA S and intersects segment SHS H at point OO. Points PP and QQ are located on lines ASA S and CBC B respectively, such that line PQP Q is tangent to a sphere of radius 25\sqrt{\frac{2}{5}} with center at point OO. Find the minimum length of segment PQP Q.

A number or a short expression. Spacing, $ signs and \frac vs / are all fine.

Official solution

PQ=95P Q=\frac{9}{\sqrt{5}}

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