Two circles of radii 5 cm and 3 cm intersect at two points, and the distance between their centres is 4 cm. Find the length of the common chord.
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The perpendicular bisector of the common chord passes through the centres of both circles.

As the circles intersect at two points, we can construct the above figure.
Consider AB as the common chord and O and O’ as the centres of the circles.
O’A = 5 cm
OA = 3 cm
OO’ = 4 cm [Distance between centres is 4 cm.]
As the radius of the bigger circle is more than the distance between the two centres, we know that the centre of the smaller circle lies inside the bigger circle.
The perpendicular bisector of AB is OO’.
OA = OB = 3 cm
As O is the midpoint of AB
AB = 3 cm + 3 cm = 6 cm
The length of the common chord is 6 cm.
It is clear that the common chord is the diameter of the smaller circle.





