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Estonia geometry
Problem
Circles and touch at point . The line through the centres of the circles intersects the circle once more at point . A line through the point intersects the circle once more at point and the circle at points and , where the points lie on the line in the order. Given that the line segments , and have equal lengths, find the ratio of the radii of the circles and .


Solution
Let the radii of and be and respectively. Let be the second intersection of and (Fig. 40). As and are diameters of and respectively, the angles and must be right angles. In triangle , the segment is both a median and an altitude, thus and . As is cyclic, we have Thus is isosceles, also and are similar. Therefore
Fig. 40
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Alternative solution.
Let the radii of and be and respectively. Let be the midpoint of and the center of (Fig. 41). Then is perpendicular to , as it connects the midpoint of the chord of and the center of . Thus . As is a diameter of , we have . Therefore . Together with , we get or . From here , from which .
Fig. 41
Fig. 40
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Alternative solution.
Let the radii of and be and respectively. Let be the midpoint of and the center of (Fig. 41). Then is perpendicular to , as it connects the midpoint of the chord of and the center of . Thus . As is a diameter of , we have . Therefore . Together with , we get or . From here , from which .
Fig. 41
Final answer
1/3
Techniques
TangentsCyclic quadrilateralsAngle chasing