A Level CIE Maths 3 hours 32 questions

2.2 Circles
2.2.1 Equation of a Circle / 2.2.2 Finding the Centre & Radius / 2.2.3 Bisection of
Chords / 2.2.4 Angle in a Semicircle / 2.2.5 Radius & Tangent

Easy (8 questions) /30

Medium (8 questions) /43 Scan here for your answers

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Hard (8 questions) /45

Very Hard (8 questions) /54

Total Marks /172

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Easy Questions
1 Write down the equations of the circles with the following centres and radii

(i) Centre: (0 , 0) Radius: r = 4,

(ii) Centre: (3 , -4) Radius: r = 2,
(iii) Centre: (-5 , 0) Radius: r = 5.

(3 marks)

2 Write down the centre and the radius for each of the following circles

(i) x 2 + y 2 = 52 ,
(ii) (x + 3) 2 + (y − 2) 2 = 49,
(iii) x 2 + (y + 4) 2 = 144 .

(3 marks)

3 On separate diagrams sketch the circles with the following equations

(i) x2 + y2 = 9
(ii) (x − 4) 2 + (y − 3) 2 = 4 2

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 (4 marks)

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4 (a) (i) Complete the square of x 2 + 4x .
(ii) Complete the square of y 2 − 6y .

(2 marks)

(b) (i) Use your answers to part (a) to show that the equation x 2 + y 2 + 4x − 6y + 4 = 0
can be written in the form (x + 2) 2 + (y − 3) 2 = 9 .
(ii) Hence, write down the centre and the radius of the circle with equation
x 2 + y 2 + 4x − 6y + 4 = 0 .

(4 marks)

5 The line segment connecting the two points (1 , 0) and (9 , 4) is the diameter of a circle.

Find the centre and radius of the circle.

(4 marks)

6 Determine if the circles with equations

(x + 4) 2 + y 2 = 9 and ( x − 2) 2 + y 2 = 9

intersect once, twice or not at all. Fully explain your answer.

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 (3 marks)

7 On a sketch show how a circle and a line can either have 0, 1 or 2 intersections.

(2 marks)

8 The line with equation y = x − 1 intersects the circle with equation

(x − 5) 2 + (y − 4) 2 = 18 at two distinct points.
Find the coordinates of the two points of intersection.

(5 marks)

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Medium Questions
1 A circle has centre (6, -5) and goes through the point (1, 7). Find the equation of the
circle.

(4 marks)

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2 (a) Show that x 2 + y 2 + 2x − 6y + 9 = 0 can be written in the form (x − a ) 2 + (y − b ) 2 = r 2 ,
where a , b and r are integers to be found.

(2 marks)

(b) Hence write down the centre and radius of the circle with equation
x 2 + y 2 + 2x − 6y + 9 = 0 .

(2 marks)

3 The line x + y = − 7 meets the circle with equation (x − 1) 2 + (y − 2) 2 = 50 .

(i) Show that the line and circle meet at one point only.
(ii) Find the coordinates of the point of intersection.

(4 marks)

4 The line 7x + y = − 6 intersects the circle (x − 2) 2 + (y − 5) 2 = 25 at the points A and

B . Find the coordinates of A and B .

(4 marks)

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5 (a) A circle C has centre (-4, 1) and passes through the point P (0, 3).

Find an equation for the circle C .

(4 marks)

(b) Find an equation for the tangent to the circle at P .

(3 marks)

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6 (a) The points A (3, 5) , B (5, 3) and C (9, 7) lie on a circle.

Show that triangle ABC is a right-angle triangle.

(2 marks)

(b) Explain why the line segment AC must be the diameter of the circle.

(1 mark)

(c) Hence find the equation of the circle.

(4 marks)

7 C 2 Circles C 1 , C 2 and C 3 all have their centres on the x -axis.

Circle C has equation

1
(x + 7) 2 + y 2 = 4 .

Circle C has equation x 2 + y 2 − 10x + 16 = 0 .

3

Circles C and C 2 touch at point A , and circles C 2 and C 3 touch at point B .

1

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Find the coordinates of the centre of circle C .
2

(6 marks)

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8 (a) A circle has equation x 2 + y 2 − 12x + 14y = − 68 .

The lines l and l are both tangents to the circle, and they intersect at the origin.
1 2

Explain why the equations for l and l must each be in the form y = mx , where m is
1 2
the gradient of the line.

(1 mark)

(b) Show that the gradients of l and l must be the solutions to the equation
1 2

19m 2 + 84m + 32 = 0 .

(4 marks)

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(c) Hence find the equations of l 1 and l 2 , giving your answers in the form y = mx . .

(2 marks)

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Hard Questions
1 The points A (-3, 1) and B (3, -7) are the two endpoints of the diameter AB of a circle. Find
the equation of the circle.

(5 marks)

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2 (a) Show that x 2 + y 2 + 5x − 2y − 5 = 0 can be written in the form (x − a ) 2 + (y − b ) 2 = r 2 ,
where a , b and r are constants to be found.

(2 marks)

(b) Hence write down the centre and radius of the circle with equation
x 2 + y 2 + 5x − 2y − 5 = 0 .

(2 marks)

3 The line y + 2x = 11 meets the circle with equation x 2 + y 2 + 6x − 14y = − 38 .

(i) Show that the line and circle meet at one point only.

(ii) Find the coordinates of the point of intersection.

(4 marks)

4 The line x + 5y + 22 = 0 intersects the circle x 2 + y 2 + 4x + 8y − 6 = 0 at the points A

and B. Find the coordinates of A and B

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 (4 marks)

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5 (a) A circle C has centre (-2, 3) and passes through the point P (6, -3).

Find an equation for the circle C .

(4 marks)

(b) Find an equation for the tangent to the circle at P.

(3 marks)

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6 (a) The points A ( − 3, 6) , B (5, − 4) and C (6, 5) lie on a circle.

Show that ∠ACB = 90°.

(2 marks)

(b) Deduce a geometrical property of the line segment AB.

(1 mark)

(c) Hence find the equation of the circle.

(4 marks)

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7 (a) Triangle ABC has vertices A (-8, 1), B (12, 16) and C (12, 1). A circle with equation
(x − 7) 2 + (y − 6) 2 = 25 touches Triangle ABC at the three points P , Q and R , as
shown in the diagram below:

Write down the coordinates of points R and Q.

(2 marks)

(b) Find the coordinates of point P.

(5 marks)

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8 A circle has equation x 2 + y 2 + 14x − 6y = − 41 .

The lines l and l are both tangents to the circle, and they intersect at the point (0, 14).
1 2

Find the equations of l and l , giving your answers in the form y = mx + c .

1 2

(7 marks)

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Very Hard Questions
1 The points A (2, -21) and B (-5, 3) are the two endpoints of the diameter AB of a circle.
Find the equation of the circle in the form ax 2 + ay 2 + bx + cy + d = 0 , where a ,b , c
and d are integers to be found.

(6 marks)

2 Find the centre and radius of the circle with equation x 2 + y 2 + x − 3y + 2 = 0 .

(4 marks)

3 The line x + y = c intersects the circle x 2 + y 2 − 6x + 10y − 16 = 0 at exactly two

points. Find the range of possible values of c .

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 (7 marks)

4 The points A (-2, 3), B (0, 6) and C (k , -1) lie on a circle, where BC is the diameter of the
circle.

Find the value of k .

(4 marks)

5 A circle C has equation x 2 + y 2 − 10x − 4y + 19 = 0 . Point P lies on the circle, and the
tangent to the circle at point P has a gradient of -3. Find the two possible sets of
coordinates for point P.

(7 marks)

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6 The points A (4, 6) , B (7, 2) and C (12, 12) lie on a circle.

Find the equation of the circle.

(7 marks)

7 A circle has equation x 2 + y 2 + 4x + 12y = − 23 .

The lines l and l are both tangents to the circle, and they intersect at the point (5, 0).
1 2

Find the equations of l and l , giving your answers in the form y = mx + c .

1 2

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 (8 marks)

8 The diagram below shows circles C 1 and C 2 which intersect at the two points A and B .
Circle C has equation
1
x 2 + y 2 − 16x − 10y + 39 = 0 , and points A and B lie along the
line with equation 3x − y = − 1 . Circle C 2 also passes through the point (-13, 2).

Find an equation of circle C .

2

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 (11 marks)

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