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Relative position of two circles: meeting points and common tangents

This type of question, asked 7 times: 2021 Paper 7, 2021 Paper 9, 15 Apr 2023, 30 Jan 2024, 1 Feb 2024, 22 Jan 2025, 22 Jan 2026 S1. All 7 questions below, oldest first.

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  1. Question 1

    2021 Paper 7

    77
    Choose the incorrect statement about the two circles whose equations are x2+y2−10x−10y+41=0x^{2}+y^{2}-10x-10y+41=0 and x2+y2−16x−10y+80=0x^{2}+y^{2}-16x-10y+80=0:

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  2. Question 2

    2021 Paper 9

    65
    Choose the correct statement about two circles whose equations are given below:
    x2+y2−10x−10y+41=0x^{2}+y^{2}- 10x - 10y + 41 = 0
    x2+y2−22x−10y+137=0x^{2}+y^{2}- 22x - 10y + 137 = 0

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  3. Question 3

    15 Apr 2023

    72
    The number of common tangents, to the circles x2+y2−18x−15y+131=0x^{2}+y^{2}- 18x - 15y + 131 = 0 and x2+y2−6x−6y−7=0x^{2}+y^{2}- 6x - 6y - 7 = 0, is :

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  4. Question 4

    30 Jan 2024

    74
    If the circles (x+1)2+(y+2)2=r2(x+ 1)^{2}+ (y+ 2)^{2}=r^{2} and x2+y2−4x−4y+4=0x^{2}+y^{2}- 4x- 4y+ 4 = 0 intersect at exactly two distinct points, then

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  5. Question 5

    1 Feb 2024

    78
    Let C:x2+y2=4C:x^{2}+y^{2}= 4 and C′:x2+y2−4λx+9=0C^{'}:x^{2}+y^{2}- 4\lambda x + 9 = 0 be two circles. If the set of all values of λ\lambda so that the circles CC and C′C^{'} intersect at two distinct points, is R−[a,b]R - \lbrack a,b\rbrack, then the point (8a+12,16b−20)(8a + 12,16b - 20) lies on the curve:

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  6. Question 6

    22 Jan 2025

    64
    A circle C of radius 2 lies in the second quadrant and touches both the coordinate axes. Let r be the radius of a circle that has centre at the point (2,5)(2,5) and intersects the circle C at exactly two points. If the set of all possible values of rr is the interval (α,β)(\alpha,\beta), then 3β−2α3\beta - 2\alpha is equal to :

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  7. Question 7

    22 Jan 2026 S1

    62
    Let the set of all values of r , for which the circles (x+1)2+(y+4)2=r2(x + 1)^{2}+ (y + 4)^{2}=r^{2} and x2+y2−4x−2y−4=0x^{2}+y^{2}- 4x - 2y - 4 = 0 intersect at two distinct points be the interval ( α\alpha, β\beta ). Then αβ\alpha\beta is equal to

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