Drawing Tangents to a Circle from a Point outside the Circle
A circle of r...
Question
A circle of radius r has a centre O. What is first step to construct a tangent from a generic point P which is at a distance r from O?
A
Join OP.
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B
With P as centre and radius > r, draw a circle and then join OP.
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C
With P as centre and radius < r, draw a circle and then join OP.
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D
With P as centre and radius = r, draw a circle and then join OP.
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Solution
The correct option is AJoin OP.
Realise that P is a point on the circle. We know that only one tangent can exist and this tangent is perpendicular to the line joining the centre of the circle O and the point of contact P.
So, in order to draw the tangent, we need a reference. This reference is the line segment OP to which our tangent would be perpendicular. So our first step would be to join OP.