16Hit1600
Geometry and TrigonometryVery hardHalf-chord from radius and distance to centre

Geometry and Trigonometry practice question

A circle has radius 10. A chord of the circle is 6 units from the centre. What is the length of the chord?

Answer: 16

The perpendicular from the centre bisects the chord, forming a right triangle with hypotenuse 10 and one leg 6. The other leg is √(100 − 36) = 8, so the chord is 2 × 8 = 16.

Common wrong answers

If you answered 4
4 is 10 − 6, subtracting lengths instead of using the Pythagorean theorem.
If you answered 8
8 is HALF the chord.
If you answered 11.7
11.7 is √(100 + 36), adding the squares.

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