Here's one method.....but.....maybe not the fastest one !!!
Let the center of the circle lie at the origin and let both chords be parallel to the x axis.
The equation of the circle is x^2 + y^2 = 56.25
The chord of 12 cm in length will have one of its endpoints at (6,y1)......and y1 =
√[56.25 - 6^2] = √[56.25 -36 ] = 4.5 { taking the positive value of the root }
And
The chord of 9 cm in length will have one of its endpoints at (4.5, y2)......and y2 =
√[56.25 - 4.5^2] = √[56.25 - 20.25 ] = 6 {again, taking the positive value of the root}
So....the distance between the chords is y2 - y1 = 6 - 4.5 = 1.5 cm
Here's a pic.....

Note that ED = 9, CB = 12 and FG = 1.5
