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2004 AMC 12A Problems/Problem 22

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The following problem is from both the 2004 AMC 12A #22 and 2004 AMC 10A #25, so both problems redirect to this page.

Problem

Three mutually tangent spheres of radius 1 rest on a horizontal plane. A sphere of radius 2 rests on them. What is the distance from the plane to the top of the larger sphere?

\text {(A)}\ 3 + \frac {\sqrt {30}}{2} \qquad \text {(B)}\ 3 + \frac {\sqrt {69}}{3} \qquad \text {(C)}\ 3 + \frac {\sqrt {12...

Solution

Image:2004_AMC12A-22a.png

The height from the center of the bottom sphere to the plane is 1, and from the center of the top sphere to the tip is 2. We now need the vertical height of the centers. If we connect the centers, we get a triangular pyramid with an equilateral triangle base. The distance from the vertex of the equilateral triangle to its centroid can be found by 30-60-90 \triangles to be \frac{2}{\sqrt{3}}.

Image:2004_AMC12A-22b.png

By the Pythagorean Theorem, we have \left(\frac{2}{\sqrt{3}}\right)^2 + h^2 = 3^2 \Longrightarrow h = \frac{\sqrt{69}}{3}. Adding the heights up, we get \frac{\sqrt{69}}{3} + 1 + 2 = \frac{\sqrt{69} + 9}{3} \Rightarrow \mathrm{(B)}.

See also

2004 AMC 12A (ProblemsResources)
Preceded by
Problem 21
Followed by
Problem 23
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25
2004 AMC 10A (ProblemsResources)
Preceded by
Problem 24
Followed by
Final Question
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25
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