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Problem 230: (2015 AMC 12a, 25)
A collection of circles in the upper half-plane, all tangent to the $x$-axis, is constructed in layers as follows. Layer $L_0$ consists of two circles of radii $70^2$ and $73^2$ that are externally tangent. For $k\ge1$, the circles in $\bigcup_{j=0}^{k-1}L_j$ are ordered according to their points of tangency with the $x$-axis. For every pair of consecutive circles in this order, a new circle is constructed externally tangent to each of the two circles in the pair. Layer $L_k$ consists of the $2^{k-1}$ circles constructed in this way. Let $S=\bigcup_{j=0}^{6}L_j$, and for every circle $C$ denote by $r(C)$ its radius. What is\[\sum_{C\in S} \frac{1}{\sqrt{r(C)}}?\] $\textbf{(A)}\ \frac{286}{35} \qquad$ $\textbf{(B)}\ \frac{583}{70} \qquad$ $\textbf{(C)}\ \frac{715}{73}\qquad$ $\textbf{(D)}\ \frac{143}{14} \qquad$ $\textbf{(E)}\ \frac{1573}{146}$
Solution
Exercise 230: Solution
A collection of circles in the upper half-plane, all tangent to the $x$-axis, is constructed in layers as follows. Layer $L_0$ consists of two circles of radii $5^2$ and $8^2$ that are externally tangent. For $k\ge1$, the circles in $\bigcup_{j=0}^{k-1}L_j$ are ordered according to their points of tangency with the $x$-axis. For every pair of consecutive circles in this order, a new circle is constructed externally tangent to each of the two circles in the pair. Layer $L_k$ consists of the $2^{k-1}$ circles constructed in this way. Let $S=\bigcup_{j=1}^{4}L_j$, and for every circle $C$ denote by $r(C)$ its radius. What is $\sum_{C\in S}\frac1{\sqrt{r(C)}}$?
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