College Algebra Problems With Answers

sample 7 : Equation of Circle

A set of college algebra problems on the
equation of circles are presented. The
solutions are at the bottom of the page.
1. Find the equation of a circle whose
center is at the point (-2 , 3) and its
diameter has a length of 10.

2. Find the center and the radius of the

circle whose equation is given by x 2 +

4x + y 2 - 8y = 5.

3. Find an equation of the circle that is is

tangent to both the x and y axes, with
a radius of 4 and whose center is
located in the second quadrant.

4. Find an equation of the circle whose

center is at the point (-4 , 6) and
passes through the point (1 , 2).

5. Find an equation of the circle whose

center is at the point (-3 , 6) and is
tangent to the y axis.

6. Find an equation of the circle whose

center is at the point (2 , -5) and is
tangent to the x axis.

7. Find an equation of the circle whose

diameter has endpoints at (-5 , 2) and
(3 , 6).

8. Find the x and y intercepts of the

graph of the circle given by the

equation
x 2 + 3x + y 2 - 4y = 18

9. Is point A(-3 , 8) inside, outside or on

the circle whose equation is given by

x 2 + 4x + y 2 - 8y = 5

10. Find the points of intersection of the

circle with equation

(x - 2) 2 + (y - 6) 2 = 40
and the line with equation y = 3x

11. Three points are defined as follows:

A(-2 , 1), B(6 , 1) and C(-2 , 7).
a) Find the midpoint M of segment
BC.
b) Find the lengths of the line
segments MA, MB and MC.
c) Find the equation of the circle that
passes through the three points A, B
and C.

Answers to the Above

Questions
1. Find the equation of a circle whose

center is at the point (-2 , 3) and its

diameter has a length of 10.
Standard equation of a circle with
radius r and center at the point (h , k)
is given by
(x - h) 2 + (y - k) 2 = r 2
In this problem r = 10 / 2 = 5 and h =
-2 and k = 3.
The equation of this circle is given by:
(x + 2) 2 + (y - 3) 2 = 25

2. Group the terms in x and x 2 and the

terms in y and y 2 in the given

equation
(x 2 + 4x) + (y 2 - 8y) = 5

Complete the squares inside the

brackets.
(x 2 + 4x + 4 - 4) + (y 2 - 8y + 16 - 16) =
5
(x + 2) 2 + (y - 4) 2 = 25.
Identify the above as the standard
equation of a circle with center (-2 , 4)
and radius 5.

3. Find an equation of the circle that is is

tangent to both the x and y axes, with

a radius of 4 and whose center is
located in the second quadrant.
Since the circle is tangent to the x
axis, the distance from the center to x
axis is equal to the radius 4. In the
same way the circle is tangent to the y
axis and therefore the distance from
the center to the y axis is also equal
to the radius. Hence the center has
coordinates (-4 , 4). The equation of
this circle is given by
(x + 4) 2 + (y - 4) 2 = 16

4. We first need to find the radius which

is given by the distance from the

center to the point (1 , 2)
r = [ (6 - 2) 2 + (-4 - 1) 2 ] = 41
The equation is given by

(x + 4) 2 + (y - 6) 2 = 41

5.

Since the circle is tangent to the y

axis, the radius is equal to the
distance from the center to the y axis
which is the absolute value of the y
coordinate of the center and that is 6.
The equation is given by
(x + 3) 2 + (y - 6) 2 = 36

6.

Since the circle is tangent to the x

axis, the radius is equal to the
distance from the center to the x axis
which is the absolute value of the x
coordinate of the center and that is 2.
The equation is given by
(x - 2) 2 + (y + 5) 2 = 4

7.

We first find the radius r which is half

the length of the diameter
r = 1/2 (64 + 16) = 2 &radics;5
The center C is the midpoint of A and

B: C(-1 , 4)
The equation is give by: (x + 1) 2 + (y 4) 2 = 20

8.

x intercept (set y = 0 in given

equation) : x 2 + 3x = 18
solve for x: x = 3 and x = -6 , 2 x
intercepts: (3 , 0) and (-6 , 0)
y intercept (set x = 0 in given
equation) : y 2 - 4y = 18
solve for y: y = 2 - 22 and y = 2 +
22 , 2 y intercepts: (0 , 2 - 22) and
(0 , 2 + 22)

9.

We first write the equation in standard

form and find the center and radius of
the circle. By completing the squares,
the given equation can be written as
follows
(x + 2) 2 + (y - 4) 2 = 5 2
Center at (-2 , 4) and radius = 5
We now calculate the distance d from
the center to point A(-3 , 8)
d = (1 + 16) = 17 = 4.1 (to the
nearest tenth)

Since the distance from the center to

point A is smaller than the radius,
point A is inside the circle.

10. We need to solve the system of

equations as follows: Substitute y by

3x in the equation of the circle
(x - 2) 2 + (3x - 6) 2 = 40
Solve for x to find the solutions: x = 0
and x = 4
Use y = 3x to find the corresponding
values of y
For x = 0 , y = 3x = 0 and for x = 4 , y
= 12.
The points of intersection are: (0 , 0)
and (4 , 12)

11.

a) M: (2 , 4)
b) L(MA) = (16 + 9) = 5
L(MB) = (16 + 9) = 5
L(MC) = (16 + 9) = 5
c) The three points are at equal
distances from point M and therefore
point M is the center of the circle;
hence the equation is given by

(x - 2) 2 + (y - 4) 2 = 25