Geometry question.. Circle?

Question

I'm not exactly sure what a circumscribed polygon is...
If you could provide and answer and little explanation, that'd be great.

Determine whether the sides of a circumscribed polygon are chords or tangents of the circle..

Thank you so much!

Ok, I got two totally different answers so far......

Answer 1

My, the confusion...

A circumscribed anything is drawn outside the figure it circumscribes and each side of the circumscribing figure is a tangent to the circumscribed figure. So your polygon is outside the whatever, circle it looks like, and each side of the polygon is a tangent to the circle.

To make clear just what the other half here is:

The figure that is inscribed inside a whatever is... wait for it... an inscribed figure... "Circum-" for surrounding, "in-" for inside. Easy way to remember. An inscribed polygon has all its vertices touching the figure it is inside. That means each line segment (each side) crosses the figure, circle in this case, rather than just touching the figure and so each is a chord of the figure the polygon is inscribed inside.

Answer 2

circumscribe means to enclose a figure within a circle. The circle circumscribes the polygon and touches each vertex of the polygon. A circumscribed polygon is thus a polygon that fits in a circle with each vertex lieing on the circumference of the circle. All regular polygons can be circumscribed. Most irregular polygons cannot be circumscribed. Regular polygons can also have a circle inscribed within them.

The circumscribed polygon has its sides as chords of the circle

If a circle is inscribed in a polygon, then the sides of the polygon are tangent to the circle.

Answer 3

The circumscribed object is furthest on the outside

so a circumscribed circle surrounds a polygon
and a circumscribed polygon surrounds the circle

since the polygon is on the outside all of the lines would be tangent lines (each line only touches the circle at one point) as opposed to chords (which touch at more than one point)

Answer 4

A circumscribed polygon is one drawn "around" a circle (whereas an "inscribed" is drawn inside).Since the polygon has to on the outside and touch the circle, it's sides are tangents (each side just touches at one point).

Answer 5

A circumscribed polygon is simply a polygon drawn inside a circle, just large enough that every corner of the polygon touches the circle.

In light of that, all sides of any such polygon are chords, not tangents. A tangent line would lie outside the circle, whereas a chord lies inside.

Answer 6

enable, C1 & C2 are the centers of circles with rsdii 15 cm & 13 cm, AND AB is the straightforward chord, AB/2 = sqrt[13^2 - {13 - (15-13)/2}^2] = sqrt[169 - a hundred and forty four] = 5, OR, AB = 10 cm >=================================< answer