The number of common tangents to the circles $x^2+y^2+4 x-6 y-12=0$ and $x^2+y^2-8 x+10 y+5=0$ is

The number of common tangents to the circles $x^2+y^2+4 x-6 y-12=0$ and $x^2+y^2-8 x+10 y+5=0$ is
  1. 4
  2. 3
  3. 2
  4. 1

Solution

Equation of given circles $ \begin{array}{r} S_1: x^2+y^2+4 x-6 y-12=0 \\ \text { and } S_2: x^2+y^2-8 x+10 y+5=0 \end{array} $ $\because$ Centre of $S_1$ is $C_1(-2,3)$ and radius of $S_1$ is $r_1=5$ and centre of $S_2$ is $C_2(4,-5)$ and radius of $S_2$ is $r_2=6$. $ \begin{aligned} & \because \quad C_1 C_2=\sqrt{(4+2)^2+(-5-3)^2}=\sqrt{36+64}=10 \\ & \text { and } r_1+r_2=5+6=11 \\ & \because \quad r_1+r_2>c_1 c_2 \end{aligned} $ $\therefore$ There are only two common tangent to circle $S_1$ and $S_2$. Hence, option (c) is correct

Asked in: AP EAMCET 2019 (20 Apr Shift 2)

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