By Mansi Yadav

Verified by Ajay Kumar

Two circular gears with radii 3 cm and 6 cm are mounted on a flat surface such that they just touch externally. To install a belt that runs directly from one gear to the other without wrapping around them, the engineer needs to determine the length of the direct common tangent between the two gears.

  1. 8.49 cm

  2. 7.8 cm

  3. 6.75 cm

  4. 5 cm

Answer: A

Solution

Solution: Since the gears touch externally, the distance between their centres is \(d=3+6=9\) cm. The direct common external tangent has length \(L=\sqrt{d^2-(r_2-r_1)^2}\). Thus, \(L=\sqrt{9^2-(6-3)^2}=\sqrt{81-9}=\sqrt{72}=6\sqrt{2}\approx8.49\) cm. Trick: Add the radii to find the centre distance, then use the difference of the radii in the tangent formula.

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