Draw a circle of radius 3,958.8 miles
Using the same centre draw another circle of radius 4,018.8 miles
Draw a tangent on the inner circle (point A) and extend it until it meets the outer circle (point B)
What is the distance AB
Would love to know the answer and how to calculate
Thanks
Rob
Thanks but unfortunately the automated reply , amazing though it is has missed the target. It would seem that it failed to comprehend the tangent part of the question. I have no idea how to calculate this myself but was expecting the answer to be several hundreds of miles.
Hopefully someone will be along soon to sort me out.
Thanks
Rob
As the bot said,
AB^2 + 3958.8^2 = 4018.8^2
AB = 691.85
as is often the case, the bot starts out okay, but then can't do simple math
Many thanks
Rob
To find the distance AB, we can use a concept called Pythagorean theorem. Here's how you can calculate it:
1. Start by drawing the two circles with their given radii. Make sure they have the same center.
2. Draw a tangent line on the inner circle at any point A. This tangent line should be perpendicular to the radius of the inner circle at point A.
3. Extend the tangent line until it intersects the outer circle at point B.
4. Now, we have a right triangle with sides AB, BA (which is the sum of the radii), and the hypotenuse AB (which is the distance we want to find).
5. The Pythagorean theorem states that the square of the hypotenuse is equal to the sum of the squares of the other two sides. In this case, it can be written as: AB^2 = BA^2 + AB^2.
6. Substitute the values: AB^2 = (3958.8 miles + 4018.8 miles)^2.
Now, let's calculate the distance AB.
AB^2 = (3958.8 miles + 4018.8 miles)^2
AB^2 = (7977.6 miles)^2
AB^2 = 63,643,277.76 miles^2
To find the distance AB, we need to calculate the square root of 63,643,277.76 miles^2:
AB = √(63,643,277.76 miles^2)
AB ≈ 7,982.82 miles
Therefore, the distance AB is approximately 7,982.82 miles.