Question 9
The distance of a chord of length from the centre of a circle is . Find the radius of the circle.
- The perpendicular drawn from the centre of a circle to a chord bisects the chord.
- This forms a right-angled triangle whose sides are the perpendicular distance from the centre, half the length of the chord, and the radius as the hypotenuse.
- Using the Pythagoras theorem, we can find the radius of the circle.
Step 1 · Find the Half-Length of the Chord
Let chord and with .The perpendicular from the centre to a chord bisects the chord:
Step 2 · Calculate the Radius of the Circle
In right-angled triangle with , by Pythagoras theorem:
- Using Full Chord Length: Using the entire chord length () in the Pythagoras equation instead of bisecting it to get .
- Confusing Perpendicular Distance and Radius: Treating the distance from the centre () as the radius instead of the leg of the right-angled triangle.
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