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 .
?
Note: Do not try to
memorise this!
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