AIME 1998 · 第 10 题

Solution 1

The key is to realize the significance that the figures are spheres, not circles. The 2D analogue of the diagram onto the flat surface will not contain 8 circles tangent to a ninth one; instead the circles will overlap since the middle sphere has a larger radius and will sort of “bulge” out.

Let us examine the relation between one of the outside 8 spheres and the center one (with radius $r$):

If we draw the segment containing the centers and the radii perpendicular to the flat surface, we get a trapezoid; if we draw the segment parallel to the surface that connects the center of the smaller sphere to the radii of the larger, we get a right triangle. Call that segment $x$. Then by the Pythagorean Theorem:

$$x^2 + (r-100)^2 = (r+100)^2 \Longrightarrow x = 20\sqrt{r}$$

$x$ is the distance from one of the vertices of the octagon to the center, so the diagonal of the octagon is of length $2x =40\sqrt{r}$. We can draw another right triangle as shown above. One leg has a length of $200$. The other can be found by partitioning the leg into three sections and using $45-45-90 \triangle$s to see that the leg is $100\sqrt{2} + 200 + 100\sqrt{2} = 200(\sqrt{2} + 1)$. Pythagorean Theorem:

$$\begin{aligned} (40\sqrt{r})^2 &=& 200^2 + [200(\sqrt{2}+1)]^2\\ 1600r &=& 200^2[(1 + \sqrt{2})^2 + 1] \\ r &=& 100 + 50\sqrt{2} \end{aligned}$$ Thus $a + b + c = 100 + 50 + 2 = \boxed{152}$.

Solution 2

Isolate a triangle, with base length $200$ (a side of the octagon). This triangle is obviously isoceles. Denote the other side length as $x$. Since the interior angle is $45$ degrees (due to the shape being an octagon), then we can apply Law of Cosines to this triangle. We get:

$$\begin{aligned} 200^2 &=& 2x^2 - 2x^2*cos(45^\circ) \\ &=& 2x^2 - 2x^2*\frac{\sqrt{2}}{2} \\ &=& (2-\sqrt{2})x^2 \end{aligned}$$ And thus

$$x = \frac{200}{\sqrt{2-\sqrt{2}}}$$ From the above, $x = 20\sqrt{r}$, so we get

$$\begin{aligned} r &=& (\frac{200}{20(\sqrt{2-\sqrt{2}})})^2 \\ &=& (\frac{10}{\sqrt{2-\sqrt{2}})})^2 \cdot \frac{2+\sqrt{2}}{2+\sqrt{2}} \\ &=& \frac{200 + 100\sqrt{2}}{2} \\ &=& 100 + 50\sqrt{2} \end{aligned}$$ And hence the answer is $100+50+2 = \boxed{152}$