In circle C with m, angle, B, C, D, equals, 66, degreesm∠BCD=66


and B, C, equals, 3BC=3 units, find the length of arc, B, D
BD

. Round to the nearest hundredth.

1 answer

To find the length of the arc \( \overset{\frown}{BD} \) in circle \( C \), we can use the formula for the length of an arc, which is given by:

\[ L = r \theta \]

where \( r \) is the radius of the circle and \( \theta \) is the central angle in radians.

From the given information:

  1. We know that \( m \angle BCD = 66^\circ \).
  2. The length of the chord \( BC = 3 \) units.

To find the radius \( r \), we can relate the chord length \( BC \) to the radius and the angle \( \angle BCD \). The formula for the length of a chord in terms of the radius \( r \) and the angle \( \theta \) in radians is:

\[ BC = 2r \sin\left(\frac{\theta}{2}\right) \]

First, we convert the angle \( 66^\circ \) to radians:

\[ \theta = 66^\circ \times \frac{\pi}{180^\circ} = \frac{66\pi}{180} = \frac{11\pi}{30} \text{ radians} \]

Now we calculate the sine of half that angle:

\[ \frac{\theta}{2} = \frac{11\pi}{60} \]

Next, we set up the equation with \( BC = 3 \):

\[ 3 = 2r \sin\left(\frac{11\pi}{60}\right) \]

Now, solve for \( r \):

\[ r = \frac{3}{2 \sin\left(\frac{11\pi}{60}\right)} \]

Using a calculator to find \( \sin\left(\frac{11\pi}{60}\right) \):

\[ \sin\left(\frac{11\pi}{60}\right) \approx 0.5 \]

Then we can calculate \( r \):

\[ r \approx \frac{3}{2 \times 0.5} = \frac{3}{1} = 3 \]

Now that we have the radius \( r \approx 3 \), we can find the length of the arc \( \overset{\frown}{BD} \):

Using the full angle in radians:

\[ L = r \theta = 3 \times \frac{11\pi}{30} \]

Calculating this:

\[ L \approx 3 \times \frac{11 \times 3.14}{30} \approx 3 \times \frac{34.54}{30} \approx 3 \times 1.1513 \approx 3.454 \]

Rounding to the nearest hundredth:

\[ L \approx 3.45 \]

Thus, the length of the arc \( \overset{\frown}{BD} \) is approximately \( \boxed{3.45} \) units.