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The endpoints of a side of a square lie on a circle and the opposite side of the square is tangent to the circle at its midpoint. Find the ratio of the side of the square and the radius.​

User Rents
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1 Answer

5 votes

Answer:

1.6

Explanation:

You want the ratio of the side of a square to the radius of a circle that is tangent to one side and passes through the end points of the opposite side of the square.

Circle

The radius of the circumcircle of the isosceles triangle inscribed in a square is 5/8 of the length of the side of the square. This is seen in the attached figure, which is drawn to scale.

Circumcenter

For a unit square located so the midpoint of the top side is the origin, the bottom right corner is located at (1/2, -1). The perpendicular bisector of the line segment between the origin and that point will have the equation ...

y+1/2 = 1/2(x -1/4)

The y-intercept of this line is the opposite of the circle's radius:

y = 1/2x -5/8

The circle radius is 5/8.

Ratio

The ratio of side length to radius is ...

s/r = 1/(5/8) = 8/5 = 1.6 . . . . exactly

The endpoints of a side of a square lie on a circle and the opposite side of the square-example-1
User Olo
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