What is AB+BC equal to?

Consider the following for the next three (03) items that follow: ABC is a right-angled triangle with \angle ABC=90^{\circ}. The centre of the incircle of the given triangle is at O, whose radius is 2 cm. Two more circles with centres at O_{1} and O_{2}, touch this circle and the two sides as shown in the figure given below. Further, MA:MC=2:3.

  1. A. 10 cm
  2. B. 12 cm
  3. C. 13 cm
  4. D. 14 cm

Correct Answer: D. 14 cm

Explanation

Let the segments of the hypotenuse be AM = 2x and CM = 3x. Due to tangent properties, the sides are AB = 2x + 2 and BC = 3x + 2. Using Pythagoras: (2x+2)^2 + (3x+2)^2 = (5x)^2. This simplifies to 13x^2 + 20x + 8 = 25x^2 \implies 12x^2 - 20x - 8 = 0 \implies 3x^2 - 5x - 2 = 0. Factoring gives (3x+1)(x-2) = 0, so x=2. Therefore, AB = 6 and BC = 8. Their sum is 14 cm.

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