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smc

geometry senior

Problem

Points and lie on a circle centered at , and . A second circle is internally tangent to the first and tangent to both and . What is the ratio of the area of the smaller circle to that of the larger circle?
(A)
(B)
(C)
(D)
Solution
Let be the center of the small circle with radius , and let be the point where the small circle is tangent to . Also, let be the point where the small circle is tangent to the big circle with radius . Then is a right triangle. Angle is degrees because line bisects angle (this can be proved by dropping a perpendicular line from to line , letting their intersection be point , and proving triangles and congruent), meaning that is a triangle. Therefore, . Since , we have , or , or . Ratio of areas of circles is ratio of radii squared, so the answer is
Final answer
B