In circle C with m, angle, B, C, D, equals, 60, degreesm∠BCD=60


and B, C, equals, 18BC=18 units, find the length of arc, B, D
BD

. Round to the nearest hundredth.

1 answer

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

\[ L = \frac{\theta}{360^\circ} \cdot C \]

where \(L\) is the arc length, \(\theta\) is the central angle (in degrees), and \(C\) is the circumference of the circle.

  1. Determine the circumference (C) of the circle:
    The circumference \(C\) of a circle is calculated using the formula:

    \[ C = 2\pi r \]

    To find \(r\) (the radius), we will first need to calculate it using the given information about the triangle \(BCD\).

    In triangle \(BCD\), we can use the relation:

    \[ \text{If } A = r \text{ and } BC = 18, \text{ then } r = \frac{BC}{2 \sin(\frac{m \angle BCD}{2})} \]

    Given \(m \angle BCD = 60^\circ\):

    \[ r = \frac{18}{2 \sin(30^\circ)} = \frac{18}{2 \cdot \frac{1}{2}} = \frac{18}{1} = 18 \text{ units} \]

  2. Calculate the circumference of the circle:

    \[ C = 2\pi \cdot 18 = 36\pi \]

  3. Calculate the arc length \(L\):
    Given that the angle \(m\angle BCD = 60^\circ\), we can now substitute into the arc length formula:

    \[ L = \frac{60}{360} \cdot C = \frac{60}{360} \cdot 36\pi = \frac{1}{6} \cdot 36\pi = 6\pi \]

  4. Calculate \(6\pi\) and round to the nearest hundredth:

    \[ 6\pi \approx 6 \cdot 3.14159 \approx 18.84954 \]

    Rounding to the nearest hundredth gives:

    \[ L \approx 18.85 \text{ units} \]

Therefore, the length of arc \(BD\) is approximately \( \boxed{18.85} \) units.