Question:
Draw a circle of radius 6 cm. From a point 10 cm away from its centre, construct the pair of tangents to the circle and measure their lengths.
Solution:
Steps of construction :
1. Taking any point O of the given plane as centre, draw a circle of 6 cm radius. Locate a point P, 10 cm away from O. Join OP.
2. Bisect OP. Let M be the mid-point of PO.
3. Taking M as centre and MO as radius, draw a circle.
4. Let this circle intersect the previous circle at point Q and R.
5. Join PQ and PR. PQ and PR are the required tangents.
The lengths of tangents PQ and PR are 8 cm each.