P1 Chapter 6 :: Circles

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Last modified: 23rd July 2018

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Chapter Overview
From this chapter onwards, the majority of the theory you will learn is new since GCSE.

1:: Equation of a circle 2:: Intersections of lines + circles

 The diameter of a circle is where and have the  Show that the line does not
coordinates and . Determine the equation of the meet the circle
circle.
NEW!
  since GCSE
You should already know the equation
for a circle centred at the origin, but not a circle
centred at a specified point.

3:: Chords, tangents and 4:: Circumscribing Triangles

perpendicular bisectors.  Find the equation of the circle
 A circle has the equation . that passes through the
Find the equations of the two points .
possible tangents whose
gradient is -3.
Midpoints and Perpendicular Bisectors
Later in the chapter you will need to find the
perpendicular bisector of a chord of a circle.

 What two properties does a perpendicular chord

bisector of two points and have? perpendicular

bisector

𝐵
  ( 6,7 )
𝐴  ( 2,5 )
𝑴
  ( 𝟒 ,?𝟔 ) Just
  find the mean of the values and the mean
of the values.

 1. It passes through the midpoint of .

 2. It is perpendicular to .
 
Equation?

?
Test Your Understanding
 Find the perpendicular bisector of the line  A line segment is the diameter of a
where and have the coordinates: circle with centre . If has
a) coordinates , what are the
b) coordinates of ?

a  

?  𝐴 ( 1 ,− 2 )
 𝑀 (5 , − 4 )
 𝐵
b   could use the formula , but it is
We
easy to see from the diagram that
whatever movement there is from
? to , we can continue to get to .
?
Fro Note: Do not try to
memorise this!
Exercise 6A/6B
Pearson Pure Mathematics Year 1/AS
Page 115, 116-117
Equation of a circle

 𝑦  
Recall that a line can be a set of points
that satisfy some equation.
Suppose we have a point on a circle
 𝑟   𝑦)
(𝑥, centred at the origin, with radius .
What equation must satisfy?
 𝑟
 𝑦 (Hint: draw a right-angled triangle inside your
circle, with one vertex at the origin and another at

 𝑥  𝑟
𝑥  the circumference)

2 2 2
 
𝑥 + 𝑦? = 𝑟
Equation of a circle

 𝑦
  𝑦)
(𝑥,  Now suppose we shift the circle
so it’s now centred at . What’s
 𝑟 the equation now?
(Hint: What would the sides of this right-
angled triangle be now?)
  𝑏)
(𝑎,
𝑥 
! The equation of a circle
 

with centre and radius is:

?
Quickfire Questions

Centre Radius Equation

 
(0,0 )  
5  
𝑥2 + 𝑦?2= 25
 
(1,2)  
6   2 2
( 𝑥 −1 ) + ( 𝑦? −2 ) =36
 
(− 3,5
? )  
1
?   2
( 𝑥+3 ) + ( 𝑦 −5 ) =1 2

 
(− 5,2
? )  
7
?   2 2
( 𝑥+5 ) + ( 𝑦 −2 ) =49
 
(− 6? , 0 )  
4
?   2
( 𝑥+6 ) + 𝑦 =16 2

2 2
 
(1 , −
? 1)  
√ 3 ( 𝑥 −1 ) + ( 𝑦 +1 ) =3
?  
2 2
 
(− 2,3
? )  
2 √ 2 ( 𝑥+2 ) + ( 𝑦 −3 ) = 8
?  
Finding the equation using points

 A line segment is the diameter of a

circle, where and have coordinates
and respectively. Determine the
 𝐴 ( 5,8 ) equation of the circle.

Hint: What two things do we need

𝐵  ( − 7,4 ) to use the circle formula?

 Centre:

We can use the distance or as the

radius. Using and ?
Test Your Understanding
Edexcel C2 Jan 2005 Q2

 a) ?
b)
?
Completing the square
 
When the equation of a circle is in the form , we can instantly read off the centre and
the radius .
But what if the equation wasn’t in this form?

 Find the centre and radius of the circle with equation

Hint:
  Have we seen a method in a previous
chapter that allows us to turn a term and a
term into a single expression involving ?

2 2 Rearrange terms so that terms

𝑥 −6 𝑥+ 𝑦 +2 𝑦 −6=0
   
are together and terms are
together.
?
Complete the square!

Textbook Note: There’s a truly awful method, initially presented

in the textbook, that allows you to find the centre/radius without
completing the square. Don’t even contemplate using it.
Further Example
Edexcel C2 June 2012 Q3a,b

?
 Exercise 6C
Pearson Pure Mathematics Year 1/AS
Page 119-120

Extension:
1  [MAT 2009 1B] The point on the
circle which is closest to the
origin, is at what distance from
the origin?
The closest point lies on the line
between the circle centre and the
origin. Since is 5 away from the
origin, the distance between the
2 [MAT
  2007 1D] 3 [MAT
 
The point on the circle
which is closest to the
circle
has what coordinates?
Drawing the circles on
the same axes, and
2016 1I] Let and be positive
real numbers. If
then the largest that can equal is
what? Give your expression in terms
of and .
Many MAT questions consider maximising
an expression in terms of and . Consider
for example the simple case
. As we increase , the line stays in the same
direction but ‘sweeps’ across:
𝑦 
  𝑘 =2
, and therefore , increase

𝑘 =  =1
origin and must be  
as we move in this

3
drawing a straight line

𝑘 
direction.
connecting their centres, 𝑥 
? the point is where the ?
If we similarly consider the line , is therefore
 maximised when the line is tangent to the
straight line intersects
?
the first circle.
unit circle. 2 2
 𝑘 +𝑘
The circle centres are 5
apart, so we need to go
𝑘
 
𝑏
 𝑎𝑥 +
𝑏𝑦
𝑘
 𝑏 1
√
𝑘
𝑎
2
𝑏
2

( −3,− 4) of the way across this 1 = 𝑘  𝑎

 
line, giving 𝑘 Using similar triangles, we
 𝑎  can obtain
 Intersections of Lines and Circles
Recall that to consider the  Show that the line never intersects
intersection of two lines, we attempt the circle with equation .
to solve them simultaneously by
substitution, potentially using the
discriminant to show that there are
no solutions (and hence no points of  Using substitution:
intersection).
2 intersections (such a line is
known as a secant of the circle) Discriminant:

therefore no solutions.
?

1 intersections (such a line is 0 intersections

known as a tangent of the circle)
Test Your Understanding
 Find the points of intersection  Using an algebraic (and not
where the line meets geometric) method, determine the
. such that the line touches the
circle with equation .

2 2
 

𝑥 +( 𝑥+6−3) =29
 
If the line touches the circle,
one point of intersection and
therefore one solution.
Discriminant:
?
?
Exercise 6D
Pearson Pure Mathematics Year 1/AS
Page 122
 Tangents, Chords, Perpendicular Bisectors
There are two circle theorems that are of particular relevance to problems in
this chapter, the latter you might be less familiar with:

or
ct
se
bi
tan

lar
ius ge

icu
nt
ch

nd
rad

o rd

pe
r
pe
The tangent is perpendicular to the The perpendicular bisector of any chord
radius (at the point of intersection). passes through the centre of the circle.

Why this will help: Why this will help:

If we knew the centre of the circle and the point of The first thing we did in this chapter is find the equation
intersection, we can easily find the gradient of the radius, of the perpendicular bisector. If we had two chords, and
and thus the gradient and hence equation of the tangent. hence found two bisectors, we could find the point of
intersection, which would be the centre of the circle.
Examples
Note that the GCSE 2015+ syllabus
had questions like this, except with  A circle has equation
circles centred at the origin only.
The line is a tangent to the circle and has
 The circle has equation
gradient -3. Find two possible equations
.
for , giving your answers in the form .
a) Verify the point lies on .
b) Find an equation of the tangent to
at the point , giving your answer in This time we have the gradient, but don’t have the
points where the tangent(s) intersect the radius.
the form
Equation of radius/diameter:

𝑚  =
 

−3
a)
  Intersecting with circle:

b) Circle centre: (  4 ,− 4 )
Gradient of radius:
Fro Tip: Use
‘subscripting’ of
?
? variables to make
Solving results in the points .
clear to the  
examiner (and Then equations of tangents:
yourself!) what
you’re calculating.
Determining the Circle Centre
 The points and lie on a circle with centre , as shown in  𝑦
the diagram. The point has coordinates and the point
has coordinates . is the midpoint of the line segment .
The line passes through the points and .  𝑥
𝑃  ( −8 , −2 )
a) Find an equation for .  𝑀
b) Given that the -coordinate of is -9: 𝑄
  ( 2, − 6 )
i) show that the -coordinate of is -5.
ii) find an equation of the circle.  𝐶

 𝑙
a  We know the line going through the midpoint of a chord and a
centre of the circle is the perpendicular bisector of the chord.

? Fro Exam Tip: If you’re not asked

Equation of : for the equation in a particular
form, just leave it as it is.

b  When :
Use either or for the radius.
?
c
?
Test Your Understanding
 A circle has centre , and goes  A circle passes through the points and . The
through the point . Find the centre of the circle has value -1. Determine
equation of the tangent of the circle the equation of the circle.
at the point , giving your equation in
the form where are integers..
 

4 3
 
Equation of perpendicular bisector of chord:

𝑚𝑟 = ∴𝑚? 𝑡 =−
3 4
When :
?
Centre:
Radius (using length ):
 Exercise 6E
Pearson Pure Mathematics Year 1/AS
Pages 126-128
Extension: 2  [AEA 2006 Q4] The line with equation is a tangent to the circle with
equation
1 [MAT
  2012 1A] Which of (a) Show that satisfies the equation
the following lines is a The tangents from the origin to touch at the points and .
tangent to the circle with (b) Find the coordinates of the points and .
equation Another circle has equation . The tangents from the point to touch
? it at the points and .
A) (c) Find the coordinates of either the point or the point .
B) Mark scheme on next slide. (This is not a tangent/chord question
C) but is worthwhile regardless!)
D) 3  [STEP 2005 Q6]
(i) The point has coordinates and the point has coordinates . The
Solution: B. Note that variable has coordinates and moves on a path such that . Show
we could avoid using that the Cartesian equation of the path of is .
algebra by using a (ii) The point has coordinates and the point has coordinates . The
variable point moves on a path such that , where .
?
suitable diagram and
simple use of Given that the path of is the same as the path of , show that
Pythagoras to get the
-intercept. Show further that , in the case .

Mark scheme on next slide.

Mark Scheme for Extension Question 2

?
Mark Scheme for Extension Question 3

?
Triangles in Circles

We’d say:
• The triangle inscribes the circle.
(A shape inscribes another if it is inside and its
boundaries touch but do not intersect the
outer shape)

• The circle circumscribes the triangle.

• If the circumscribing shape is a circle,
it is known as the circumcircle of the
triangle.
• The centre of a circumcircle is known
as the circumcentre.
Triangles in Circles
𝐵
 

𝐶
 
 𝐴

  then:
If Given three points/a triangle we
• is the diameter of the can find the centre of the
? triangle .
circumcircle of circumcircle by:

Similarly if is the diameter of a • Finding the equation of the

circle: perpendicular bisectors of
• therefore is perpendicular two different?sides.
• Find the point of intersection
to . ? of the two bisectors.
Example
𝐶  ( − 4,9 )

 [Textbook] The points lie on a circle.

a) Show that is a diameter of the circle. 𝐵
  ( 4,
𝐴  ( −8,1 )
 
Method 1:  
Method 2: (not in textbook!)
Show that Show that is perpendicular to .

Therefore is the diameter. is perpendicular to

Therefore is the diameter.
? ?

b) Hence find the equation of the circle.

 
Centre is midpoint of :
Radius: ?
Example
𝐶
  ( 8,18 )
 The points lie on the circumference of a circle. Determine the
equation of the circle.

 
Perpendicular bisector of :
By inspection, 𝐴  ( 0,2 )

Perpendicular bisector of : 𝐵
  ( 2,0 )
Midpoint:

Solving simultaneously with :

Centre is .
?
Using and centre of circle:
Equation of circle:
Exercise 6F
Pearson Pure Mathematics Year 1/AS
Pages 131-132

Extension:

1  [STEP 2009 Q8 Edited] If equation of the circle is , where is a positive number, it can be
shown that touches the line as well as the line .

Find the equation of the incircle of the triangle formed by the lines , and .
Note: The incircle of a triangle is the circle, lying totally inside the triangle, that touches all
three sides.

Solution:
?