Question

XZ is a common external tangent to circles W and Y. What is the distance between the two centers of the circles? Round to the nearest hundredth.

Answer 1

Construct a triangle by drawing a line parallel to XZ at Center W; intersecting the radius from Center Y to Z.

It is a right-angled triangle with one side at the same length as XZ = 42.

Length of the other side of the right-angle is the difference in radius = 19-11 = 8

Distance between centers = length of hypothesis

= sqrt(42^2 + 8^2)

= 42.755 = 42.76

Answer 2

You can Draw a segment WY connecting the centers of the two circles, and then draw a segment, WS, so that YS + SZ = YZ and WS ⊥ YZ).