This problem was a sub-part of one of the Google Codejam problems this year.
We have three circles, with radii and centers and we need to find the center and radius of the circle that has the minimum radius and encloses all these three circles. The first step can be to subtract the radius of the smallest circle from the radii of all the other circles. This will not alter the center of the resultant circle, we will just have to add the radius of the smallest circle back to our answer. Now from here, what would be the best algorithm to calculate the required center and radius? the solution given there says: "We can subtract from the radius of each of the three plants the radius of the smallest plant, then compute an inversion about that plant's center. Then we find appropriate tangents to the two inverted plants, re-invert to find the corresponding circle, and add back the radius of the smallest plant." What exactly is "an inversion about that plant's center"? We can also discuss a different algorithm here that does the job! --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Algorithm Geeks" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/algogeeks -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
