Thread: Circle geometry

Originally Posted by booper563

In the diagram, tangents have been drawn from p to the circles. If o is the centre of the smaller circle, find the exact value of PO. Explain your reasoning

link to diagram
http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b112/sabba563/5.jpg


im having so much trouble details please

I've only a few questions:

1. Are the two circles tangent to each other?

2. Is the line passing from P between the two circles a tangent to both circles?

If and only if the answer to both questions is yes then all three tangent segments have the same length. Use Pythagorean theorem to calculate the distance PO.