Question

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. (Hint: Draw segment connecting the centers of the two circles, and then draw a segment, , so that YS + SZ = YZ and .)

Answer 1

`WY=42.8\ units`

Explanation:

see the attached figure to better understand the problem

we know that

In the right triangle WYS

Applying the Pythagoras Theorem

`WY^(2)=WS^(2)+YS^(2)`

we have that

`WS=XZ=42\ units`

`YS=YZ-WX=19-11=8\ units`

substitute

`WY^(2)=42^(2)+8^(2)`

`WY^(2)=1,828`

`WY=42.8\ units`