Circle A has a center at (8 ,7 ) and an area of 81 pi. Circle B has a center at (4 ,2 ) and an area of 36 pi. Do the circles overlap? If not, what is the shortest distance between them?

1 Answer
Feb 16, 2016

The circles overlap.

Explanation:

The distance between the centers of Circle A and Circle B is
color(white)("XXX")d=sqrt((8-4)^2+(7-2)^2) = sqrt(41)~~6.403

"Area"_A=pir_A^2=81pi
color(white)("XXX")rarr r_A^2=81
color(white)("XXX")rarr r_a=9

"Area"_B=pir_B^2=36pi
color(white)("XXX")rarr r_B^2=36
color(white)("XXX")rarr r_B=6

Since the sum of the radii is greater than the distance between the centers, the circles overlap.

In fact along the line joining the centers of the circles, the circles overlap by
color(white)("XXX")(9+6) - 6.403 = 8.597 " units"