Question

What the distance between two parallel tangents to a circle of radius 5 cm?

Answer 1

Given:

Radius of circle (say PO) = 5 cm

Let AB ∥ CD be two tangents which meets the circle at P and Q respectively. And, O be the center of circle.

Property: The tangent at a point on a circle is at right angles to the radius obtained by joining center and the point of tangency.

By above property, we can say that distance between two parallel tangents of a circle is equal to its diameter.

Therefore,

PQ = 2 × PO 

= 2 × 5 cm 

= 10 cm

Hence, Distance between tangents = 10 cm

Answer 2

Hello, The answer is 10 cm.

If two tangents are parallel to each other in a circle, then the common length which is perpendicular to both the tangents is the diameter of the circle. So, the distance is two times the radius(5 cm) which is 10 cm.

I hope you will understand.