Coordinate geometry

Syllabus AS Pure Math

Length of segment
AB = (xB − xA )2 + (yB − yA )2

Midpoint
Midpoint of AB,M has equal distant to A and B

Find midpoint:

Gradient
Descibe how steep is the line

the larger the gradient, m the steeper the line

m < 0 ⟹ line going down, vice versa

m = 0 ⟹ line has 0 gradient, parallel to x-axis
m = ø ⟹ line has undefined gradient, perpendicular to x-axis

Find gradient:

m1 = m2 ⟺ line 1 and 2 parallel to each other

m1 .m2 = −1 ⟺ line 1 and 2 are perpendicular

Coordinate geometry 1
 Equation of a line: y = mx + c OR y − y1 = m(x −
x1 )
c is y-intercept, when x = 0
y = c is equation when m = 0
x = b is equation when m is undefined

Equation of a circle: (x − a)2 + (y − b)2 = r2

Center of the circle (a, b)

r is the radius of the circle

Comple the squares to form equation of a circle: x2 + y2 + ax + by + c = 0

a b a b
[x2 + ax + ( )2 ] + [y2 + by + ( )2 ] = −c + ( )2 + ( )2
2 2 2 2
square root right side to get radius

a b
(x + )2 + (y + )2 = r 2
2 2

Intersection of line and circle

subsititude x or y from equation of the line into equation of circle

Expand and use quadratic formula to find value of x or y

Discriminant: b2 − 4ac
< 0 ⟺ no intersection
= 0 ⟺ 1 point of intersection
> 0 ⟺ 2 points of intersection

Coordinate geometry 2