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Given that BC is tangent to circle A and that BC =3 and AB=5, calculate the length of circle A.

User Pastaleg
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To calculate the length of the radius of circle A, we need to use the fact that BC is tangent to circle A. Let O be the center of circle A, and let r be the length of the radius of circle A. Then we have:

BC ⊥ OA (since BC is tangent to circle A) BC = 3 AB = 5

We can use the Pythagorean theorem in triangle ABC to find the length of AC:

AC^2 = AB^2 - BC^2 AC^2 = 5^2 - 3^2 AC^2 = 16 AC = 4

Since OA is perpendicular to segment BC at point D, we can use the Pythagorean theorem in triangle AOD to solve for the radius r:

r^2 = OD^2 + AD^2 r^2 = (BC/2)^2 + AC^2 r^2 = (3/2)^2 + 4^2 r^2 = 2.25 + 16 r^2 = 18.25 r = sqrt(18.25) r ≈ 4.27

Therefore , the length of the radius of circle A is approximately 4.27 units.

User Batgar
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