SAINT ANTHONY’S COLLEGE

SANTA CRUZ, SANTA ANA, CAGAYAN I FAS SCHOOL SYSTEM

SCHOOL YEAR 2020-2021

SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL DEPARTMENT

LEARNING MODULE 1
SUBJECT: PRE-CALCULUS
YEAR AND SECTION: GRADE 11 - STEM
SUBJECT TEACHER: ALEJANDRO Y. GONZALES III
TOPIC: INTRODUCTION TO CONIC SECTIONS AND CIRCLES

INTRODUCTION
We introduce the conic sections (or conics), a particular class of curves which
oftentimes appear in nature and which have applications in other fields. One of the first
shapes we learned, a circle, is a conic. When you throw a ball, the trajectory it takes a
parabola. The orbit taken by each planet around the sun is an ellipse. Properties of
hyperbolas have been used in the design of certain telescopes and navigating systems.
We will discuss circles in this lesson, leaving parabolas, ellipses, and hyperbolas for
subsequent lessons.
 Circle - when the plane is horizontal
 Ellipse - when the (tilted) plane intersects only one cone to form a bound curve
 Hyperbolas - when the plane (not necessarily vertical) intersects both cones to form
two unbounded curves (each called a branch of hyperbola)
 Parabola - when the plane intersects only one cone to form an unbounded curve

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We can draw these conic sections (also called conics) on a rectangular coordinate plane
and find their equations. To be able to do this, we will present equivalent definitions of
these conic sections in subsequent sections, and use these to find the equations.

There are other ways for a plane and the cones to intersect, to form what are referred to
as degenerate conics: a point, one line, and two lines.

Definition and Equation of a Circle

A circle may also be considered a special kind of ellipse (for the special case when
the tilted plane is horizontal). for our purposes, we will distinguish between these two
coins.

With the point C (3,1) shown.

From the figure, the distance of A(2,1) from C is AC  5 . by the distance formula, the

distance of B (6,5) from C is BC  (6  3)  (5  1)  5 . there are other points P such

2 2

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that PC  5 . the collection of such points which 5 units away from C , forms a circle.

Let C be a given point. The set of all

points P having the same distance from
C is called a circle. The point C is
called the center of the circle, and the
Figure 1.1
common distance its radius.

The term radius is both used to refer to a segment from the center C to a point P
on the circle, and the length of this segment.

Where the circle is drawn. It

has center C (h, k ) and radius r  0 .
A point P ( x, y ) is on the circle if and
only if PC  r . for any such point
then, its coordinates should satisfy
the following.
PC  r
( x  h) 2  ( y  k ) 2  r
( x  h) 2  ( y  k ) 2  r 2

This is the standard equation of the circle with the center C (h, k ) and radius r . if the
center is the origin, then h  0 and k  0 . the standard equation is the x  y  r .
2 2 2

Figure 1.2

Example:
In each item, give the standard equation of the circle satisfying the given conditions.
1. Center at the origin, radius 4

2. Center   4,3 , radius 7

3. Circle in figure 1.1

4. Circle A in figure 1.3
5. Circle B in figure 1.3
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6. Center  5,6 , tangent to the y-axis

7. Center  5,6 , tangent to the x-axis

8. Has a diameter with endpoints A  1,4  and B  4,2 

Solution.
1. Given: r  4
x2  y2  r 2

x 2  y 2  42

x 2  y 2  16

2. Given: r  7 ; h  4 ; k  3

 x  h 2   y  k  2  r 2
 x    4  2   y  3 2 
2
7

Figure 1.3  x  4 2   y  3 2  7

3. The center is  3,1 and the radius is 5 , so the equation is  x  3   y  1  25 .

2 2

4. By inspection, the center is   2,1 and the radius is 4. the equation is

 x  2 2   y  1 2  16 .

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5. Similarly by inspection, we have  x  3   y  2   9 .
2 2

6. The center is 5 units away from the y-axis, so the radius is r  5 (you can make a
sketch to see why). the equation is  x  5   y  6  25 .
2 2

7. Similarly, since the center is 6 units away from the x-axis, the equation is
 x  5 2   y  6 2  36 .
 1  4 4  2   3 
C  ,    ,3 
8. The center is the midpoint of A and B:  2 2   2  the radius is then
2 2
 3 29  3 29
r  AC    1     4  2   x     y  3 
2 2

 2 4 . the circle has equation  2 4 .

More properties of Circles

2
 3 29
 x     y  3 
2

After expanding, the standard equation  2 4 can be written as

x  y  3 x  6 y  5  0 , an equation of the circle in general form.
2 2

If the equation of a circle is given in general form Ax  By  Cx  Dy  E  0 ,

2 2

A  0 , or x  y  Cx  Dy  E  0 , we can determine the standard form by completing

2 2

the square in both variables.

Completing the square in an expression like x  14 x means determining the term

2

2
to be added that will produce a perfect polynomial square. Since the coefficient of x is
already 1, we take half the coefficient of x and square it, and we get 49. indeed,
x 2  14 x  49  ( x  7) 2 is perfect square. To complete the square in, say, 3 x 2  18 x , we

factor the coefficient of x from the expression: 3( x  6 x) , then add 9 inside. When
2 2

completing a square in an equation, any extra term introduced on one side should also be
added to the other side.

Example: Identify the center and radius of the circle with the given equation in each item.
Sketch its graph, and indicate the center.

1. x2  y 2  6x  7

2. x 2  y 2  14 x  2 y  14

3. 16 x 2  16 y 2  96 x  40 y  315

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Solution. The first step is to rewrite each equation in the standard form by completing
the square in x and y. from the standard equation, we can determine the center and
radius

1. x2  y 2  6x  7

x2  6x  y2  7

x2  y2  9  6x  7  9

( x  3) 2  y 2  16

Center (3,0) , r  4

2. x 2  y 2  14 x  2 y  14

x 2  14 x  y 2  2 y  14

x 2  14 x  49  y 2  2 y  1  14  49  1

Center (7,1) , r  6

3. 16 x 2  16 y 2  96 x  40 y  315

16 x 2  96 x  16 y 2  40 y  315

 5 
16( x 2  6 x)  16 y 2  y   315
 2 

 5 25   25 
16( x 2  6 x  9)  16 y 2  y    315  16(9)  16 
 2 16   16 
2
 5
16( x  3)  16 y    484
2

 4

2 2
 5 484 121  11 
( x  3)   y   
2
  
 4 16 4 2

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 5
(3, )
Center 4 , r  5.5

Situational problems involving circles

We now consider some situational problems involving circle.
Example:
1. A street with two lanes, each 10 ft wide, goes through a semicircular tunnel with
radius 12 ft. How high is the tunnel at the edge of each lane? Round off to 2 decimal
places.

Solution.
We draw a coordinate system with origin at the middle of the highway, as shown.
Because of the given radius, the tunnel’s boundary is on the circle x  y  12 . Point P
2 2 2

is the point on the arc just above the edge of the lane, so its x-coordinate is 10. we need

its y-coordinate. We then solve 10  y  12 for y  0 , giving us y  2 11  6.63 ft.

2 2 2

2. A piece of a broken plate was dug up in an archaeological site. It was put on top of a
grid. With the arc of the plate passing through A(7,0) , B (1,4) and C (7,2) . find its
center, and the standard equation of the circle describing the boundary of the plate.

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Solution. we first determine the center. It is the intersection of the perpendicular
bisectors of AB and BC.

Recall that, in a circle, the

perpendicular bisector of any
chord passes through the center.
Since the midpoint M of AB is
  7 1 0  4 
 ,     3,2 
 2 2  , and
40 1
m AB  
1 7 2 , the
perpendicular bisector of AB has
equation y  2  2 x  3 , or

equivalently, y  2 x  4 .

1 7 4  2  24 1
 ,    4,3 m AB  
Since the midpoint N of BC is  2 2  , and 7 1 3 , the

perpendicular bisector of BC has equation y  3  3 x  4  , or equivalently, y  3x  9 .

The intersection of the two lines y  2 x  4 and y  3 x  9 is 1,6  (by solving a

system of linear equations). we can take the radius as a distance of this point drom any A,
B or C (it’s most convenient to use B in this case). we then get r  10 . the standard

equation is thus  x  1   y  6   100 .

2 2

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STANDARDS
1. Illustrate the different types of conic sections: parabola, ellipse, circle, hyperbola, and
degenerate cases;
2. Define a circle;
3. Determine the standard form of equation of a circle;
4. Graph a circle in a rectangular coordinate system; and
5. Solve situational problems involving conic sections (circles).

TRANSFER
At the end of Learning module nos. 1-4, students are expected to model situations
appropriately and solve problems accurately using conic sections.

ACTIVITIES
Exercise #1 (answer the given task in your notebook)

Find the standard equation of the circle being described in each item.

1. With the center at the origin, radius 11

2. With center   6,7  , tangent to the y-axis

3. Has a diameter with endpoints A(3,2) and B(7,4)

Exercise #2 (answer the given task in your notebook)

Identify the center and the radius of circle with the given equation in each item. Sketch
its graph, and indicate the center.

1. x 2  y 2  5 x  4 y  46

2. 4 x 2  4 y 2  40 x  32 y  5

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Exercise #3 (answer the given task in your notebook)

1. A single-lane street 10 ft wide goes through a semicircular tunnel with radius 9 ft.
How high is the tunnel at the edge of each lane? Round off to 2 decimal places.

2. An archeologist found remains of an ancient wheel, which she then placed on a grid.
If an arc of the wheel passes through A(7,0) , B (3,4) and C (7,0) , locate the center of
the wheel, and the standard equation of the circle defining its boundary.

SUMMARY

The circle with center C  0,0 and radius r has the equation: x  y  r , this
2 2 2

means any point  x, y  on the circle will give the radius squared when substituted into
the circle equation.

The circle with center C  h, k  and radius r has the equation:  x  h    y  k   r

2 22

, this formulas are direct result of pythagoras’ formula for the length of the hypotenuse of
a right triangle.

An equation which can be written in the following form (with constants D, E, F)

represents a circle: x  y  Dx  Ey  F  0 this is called the general form of the circle.
2 2

EVALUATION (answer the given task in a separate sheet of letter sized bond paper)

1. Identify the center and radius of the circle with the given equation in each item.
Sketch its graph, and indicate the center.

a. 9 x 2  9 y 2  42 x  84 y  65  0

b. 2 x 2  2 y 2  10 x  2 y  7

2. Find the standard equation of the circle which satisfies the given conditions.

a. Center at   2,3 , tangent to the x-axis

b. Center at   2,3 , tangent to the y-axis

c. Cocentric with x 2  y 2  10 x  6 y  2 , same radius as

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3. A Ferris wheel is elevated 1 m above the ground. When a car reaches the highest
point on the Ferris wheel, its altitude from ground level is 31 m. how far away from the
center, horizontally, is the car when it is at an altitude of 25 m?

REFLECTION (answer the given task in a separate sheet of letter sized bond paper)

What are the uses of Circle in real life? Give three concrete example.

REFERENCES

[1] R.N. Aufmann, V.C. Barker, and R.D. Nation, College Trigonometry, Houghton
Mifflin Company, 2008.
[2] E.A. Cabral, M.L.A.N. De Las Peñ as, E.P. De Lara-Tuprio, F.F. Francisco,
I.J.L. Garces, R.M. Marcelo, and J.F. Sarmiento, Precalculus, Ateneo de
Manila University Press, 2010.
[3] R. Larson, Precalculus with Limits, Brooks/Cole, Cengage Learning, 2014.
[4] L. Leithold, College Algebra and Trigonometry, Addison Wesley Longman
Inc., 1989, reprinted by Pearson Education Asia Pte. Ltd., 2002.
[5] M.L. Lial, J. Hornsby, and D.I. Schneider, College Algebra and Trigonometry
and Precalculus, Addison-Wesley Educational Publisher, Inc., 2001.
[6] J. Stewart, L. Redlin, and S. Watson, Precalculus: Mathematics for Calculus,
Brooks/Cole, Cengage Learning, 2012.
[7] M. Sullivan, Algebra & Trigonometry, Pearson Education, Inc., 2012.
[8] C. Young, Algebra and Trigonometry, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 2013.

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