Jordan is trying to find the area of the lake in his neighborhood. He sees a duck at Point C and uses a tape measure application on his phone to find the duck is 16 ft from the point of tangency (point B) to the lake, and the point of tangency is 12 ft from the fountain in the center of the Lake (point A).
How far is the duck standing from the fountain?

correct answer:

a + bi

< xcy ≅ < xby

step-by-step explanation:

in δcax and δbax,

so, δcax ≅ δbax (side-angle-side or sas)

since δcax ≅ δbax, we can conclude < acx ≅ < abx

in δacy and δaby,

so, δacy ≅ δaby (side-angle-side or sas)

since δacy ≅ δaby, we can conclude < acy ≅ < aby

now,

< acy ≅ < aby

=> < acx + < xcy ≅ < abx + < xby

=> < acx + < xcy ≅ < acx + < xby   (since < acx ≅ < abx already proved above)

subtracting < acx from both sides, we get

< acx + < xcy -< acx ≅ < acx + < xby -< acx

cancelling out < acx and -< acx from both sides, we get

< xcy ≅ < xby (proved)