Two different circles in the plane with nonempty intersection

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SUMMARY

This discussion addresses the mathematical problem of demonstrating that within two specific sets of circles in the plane, there exist at least two different circles with a non-empty intersection. The set Q consists of circles that intersect the x-axis at every real number, while the set T comprises circles tangent to the x-axis at every real number. The conclusion drawn is that since there are uncountably many points on the x-axis and only countably many disjoint circles can exist under the given conditions, at least two circles must intersect.

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Arnold1
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Hi.

Here is a problem I've been trying to solve for some time now. Maybe you could help me.
We have two sets
\mathcal {Q} is a set of those circles in the plane such that for any x \in \mathbb{R} there exists a circle O \in \mathcal {Q} which intersects x axis in (x,0).\mathcal {T} is a set of those circles in the plane such that for any x \in \mathbb{R} there exists a circle O \in \mathcal {T} which is tangent to x axis in (x,0).

We need to show that in each of these sets there exist at least two different circles whose intersection isn't empty.
It seems obvious that card (Q) \ge card (\mathbb{R}). Maybe we could somehow identify each circle with a different rational number?
 
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Arnold said:
Maybe we could somehow identify each circle with a different rational number?
Yes, every circle (including interior) contains a point with rational coordinates, just like every segment of the x-axis contains a point with a rational x-coordinate. Therefore, there is at most countably many disjoint circles on a plane.
 
So this is it? There are only countably many disjoint circles meeting the above specified conditions nut uncountably many points on x axis. Can we already deduce that at least two circles intersect?
 
Arnold said:
So this is it? There are only countably many disjoint circles meeting the above specified conditions nut uncountably many points on x axis. Can we already deduce that at least two circles intersect?
Yes, we can. If the circles don't intersect, then there is at most countably many of them. But each circle has at most two intersection points with the x-axis, so the number of intersection points is also countable, a contradiction.
 

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