Problema Solution

There are two chords AB and CD in a circle |AB| =10CM |CD|=8 CM and radius of the circle is 12cm. What is the distance of each of the chords from the centre of the circle?

Answer provided by our tutors

Let

d1 = the distance to the chord AB

d2 = the distance to the chord CD

r = 12 cm

Using the Pythagorean Theorem we have:

d1^2 = r^2 - (AB/2)^2

d1^2 = 12^2 - (10/2)^2

d1^2 = 144 - 25

d1 = 10.91 cm

Similar for d2 we have:

d2^2 = r^2 - (CD/2)^2

d2^2 = 12^2 - (8/2)^2

d2^2 = 144 - 16

d2 = 11.31 cm

The distance from the center to the chord AB is 10.91 cm.

The distance from the center to the chord CD is 11.31 cm.