Circles

To enable the animations and activities in this presentation, Flash Player needs to be
installed. This can be downloaded free of charge from http://get.adobe.com/flashplayer
1 of 9

Boardworks 2012

This sample is an excerpt from one presentation on Circles in Boardworks High

Geometry, which contains 50 interactive presentations in total.
2School
of 9
Boardworks 2012

Information

3 of 9

Boardworks 2012

Parts of circle

4 of 9

Boardworks 2012

Exploring radius and tangent

5 of 9

Boardworks 2012

Radius and tangent proof

The line, l, lies on the circle A and is perpendicular to
the radius at that point. Is l also a tangent to the circle?
Choose any point on l that is not B. Call this point C.
We are told that CB is perpendicular to AB. This means that CB and AB
form a right angle in ABC.
apply the Pythagorean theorem:

AB + BC = AC (1)
BC > 0:

AB + BC > AB (2)

substituting:

AC > AB

simplifying:

AC > AB
Therefore AC AB

C cannot lie on the circle. The line l intersects with the circle at
one point only, meaning that l is a tangent to the circle.
6 of 9

Boardworks 2012

Constructing a tangent line

7 of 9

Boardworks 2012

Modeling with circles

8 of 9

Boardworks 2012

9 of 9

Boardworks 2012