Name D B: Quation FOR A Ircle

NAME
DATE
BAND
EQUATION FOR A CIRCLE

ADV GEOMETRY | PACKER COLLEGIATE INSTITUTE
1. You know how to write the equation for a line. Heres an equation of a line:
y 3 5( x 1)
What precisely do the points on the line
represent?
What precisely do the points not on the line

represent?
2. I asked a student to find the distance between the numbers -2.5 and 3.6 on a
number line. I expected the student to take the larger number and subtract the
smaller number from it. In other words, I expected the student to repond with the
following: 3.6 (2.5) 3.6 2.5 6.1 .
Instead, the student said that the distance between the two numbers was:
2.5 3.6 6.1 6.1
And then went on to say that the distance between any two numbers a and b on
a b
the number line was always going to be
, no matter which number was the
bigger number and which was the smaller number. I nodded back at the sage child,
and agreed. Why is this true?!?
3. What is the length of AB ? Give the answer exactly and then give the answer
rounded to the nearest hundreth.
4. We need to use the definition of a circle to help us come up with the equation for a
circle. Think back to the beginning of the year, when we tried to define a circle.
What is the definition of a circle? If youre having trouble, or need to check your
definition, please feel free to consult the glossary in the back of our geometry
textbook.
A circle is:
5. Lets look at the circle below.

(a) What is the center of the
circle? What is the radius of
the circle?
(b)What are four points that you

know are absolutely on the
circle?
(c) How many points lie on the

circle?
(d)If we had an equation for the circle, and substituted the center of the circle into the
equation, would it make the equation true or false? How do you know?
(e) If we had an equation for the circle, and substituted the four points you found in
part (b) into the equation, would it make the equation true or false? How do you
know?
(f) How many points can be substituted into the equation of the circle that would
make the equation true? How do you know?
6. Here is the circle again. Im drawing a random point on the circle.

(a) What is the
distance from the
center of the circle to
the random point
drawn? How do you
know?
(b) Lets draw a right

triangle. The
hypotenuse will be
the segment from the
center of the circle to
the random point. Draw the two legs so they are horizontal and vertical.
(c) Call your teacher over to talk about how to do this step: Figure out the length of
the legs of the right triangle. To be safe, lets use the trick from Problem #2 to avoid
having any negative lengths! If this is confusing, just ask!
Hoizontal leg length:
Vertical leg length:
(d) Substitute the legs and hypotenuse of the triangle above into the pythagorean
theorem.
7. Believe it or not, you have just found the equation for this circle. The equation for a
circle is simply an application of the Pythagorean theorem.
You should be skeptical. I mean, what?!?! But its true. Look back over the analysis
that you did. You used a random point (W,) to be any point on the circle. In
essence, because we didnt choose one specific point on the circle, we are now
able to say that our random point (W,) is any point on the circle. Our analysis is
true for an infinity of points!
In 5(b), you found four points that are on the circle. Substitute those four points to
see if they satisfy your equation.
8. (a) The point (8,5 8) is also on the circle. First, put a star on the circle on the
previous page where this point is (approximately). You may use your calculators!
Then subsitute this point into your equation. Does it make make your equation
true?
(b) The point (7 3, 5 6 ) is also on the circle. Again, put a star on the circle on
the previous page where this point is (approximately). You may use your
calculators! Then substitute this point into your equation. Does it make your
equation true?
(c) Can you find the exact coordinates of another point on the circle?
9. We know that every point we substitute into (W,) should satisfy the equation for
our circle. Thus, any point ( x, y ) which is on the circle must also satisfy our
equation! So lets write our equation without any hearts and squares, and instead
write it with x s and y s.
It is customary to use x s and y s in the equation for our circle. We are

mathematicians, after all! We love letters! (So you should do the same.)
10.
Lets try to find another point on the circle. In fact, lets find two!
(a) Draw the two points on the circle

which have an x-coordinate of 5.
(b) Estimate the y-coordinates for the
two points (round to the nearest
tenth):
Point 1: (5, _______)
Point 2: (5, _______)
(c) You esimated the y-coordinate on the circle. Were you right? Using your equation for
the circle, check to see if those two points are on the circle or not. (Im guessing not,
since you simply estimated! I mean, what are the chances that you estimated
perfectly?!?!)
(d) So youre going to have to use the equation for the circle to determine the ycoordinates precisely. Do that. It may seem challenging, but youll be fine with the
algebra! Just take it one step at a time!
Practice Problems 1:
11.
Find the equation of the circle below.
12.
13.
14.
If you know the center of a circle is (4, 6) and the radius is 5 , what is the
equation of the circle?
15.
If you know the center of a circle is (5, 2) and the radius is
equation of the circle?
3 , what is the
16.
If you know the center of a circle is
is the equation of the circle?
(Centerx , Centery )
and the radius is r , what
This is known as the standard equation for a circle. Congratulations! We will be

using this a lot!
17.
2
2
(a) What is the center and radius of the circle ( x 2) ( y 1) 20 ?
2
2
(b) What is the center and radius of the circle ( x 3) y 12 ?
2
2
18.
For the circle ( x 2) ( y 3) 25 , find the two points on the circle which have
an x-coordinate of -4.
19.
(a) Is the point (2,5) on a circle with center (1, 4) with radius 1.4 ?
(b) Is the point (2,5) on a circle with center (1, 4) with radius
Practice Problems 2:
20.
Here are some circles. Graph them.

2
2
(a) ( x 4) ( y 2) 9 .
2
2
(b) ( x 2) ( y 2) 1
2
2
(c) ( x 5) y 4
2?
21.
A circle has center (0, 6) and passes through the point (6,14) . Find the
equation of the circle.
22.
A circle has center (2, 4) and passes through point (3,8) . Find the equation
of the circle.
23.
A circle has diameter AB , where A is (3, 2) and B is (3, 2) . Find the equation
of the circle.
24.
A circle has diameter RS , where R is (1,5) and S is (11, 7) . Find the equation
of the circle.
25.
A
is
is
A ' is
B ' is
(a) Find the center of rotation that brings segment AB to A ' B ' , where
(6,3)
(3, 2)
(0,1)
(1, 2)
(we want A to go to A ' , and B to go to B ' )
(b) Find the equation of the circle that has the center of rotation you discovered in
part (a) but also goes through A and A ' .
(c) Find the equation of the circle that has the center of rotation you discovered in
part (a) but also goes through B and B ' .

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NAME

EQUATION FOR A CIRCLE

What precisely do the points not on the line

5. Lets look at the circle below.

(b)What are four points that you

(c) How many points lie on the

6. Here is the circle again. Im drawing a random point on the circle.

(b) Lets draw a right

It is customary to use x s and y s in the equation for our circle. We are

(a) Draw the two points on the circle

Find the equation of the circle below.

Find the equation of the circle below.

Find the equation of the circle below.

and the radius is r , what

This is known as the standard equation for a circle. Congratulations! We will be

Here are some circles. Graph them.

(we want A to go to A ' , and B to go to B ' )

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