1953 AHSME Problems/Problem 11

A running track is the ring formed by two concentric circles. If the circumferences of the two circles differ by $10\pi$ feet, how wide is the track in feet?

Solution

We notice that since the running track is simply the area of the outer circle that is outside of the inner circle, the radius of the larger circle must be precisely $10$ feet larger than the radius of the smaller circle.

Since the circumference of a circle is calculated as $2\pi{r}$ where $r$ is the radius, we know that the circumference of the smaller circle is $2\pi{r}$ and the circumference of the larger circle is $2\pi(r+10)=2\pi{r}+20\pi$ .

The difference between the circumferences is $2\pi{r}+20\pi-2\pi{r}=20\pi\approx20\cdot3=\boxed{\textbf{(C) } 60\text{ feet}}$ .

1953 AHSC (Problems • Answer Key • Resources)
Preceded by Problem 10	Followed by Problem 12
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1953 AHSME Problems/Problem 11

Solution

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