Coordinate Geometry

The Distance Between two Points The length of the line joining the points (x1, y1) and (x2, y2) is:

( x1 x 2 )
Example 1

+ ( y1 y 2 )

Find the distance between the points (5, 3) and (1, 4). Answer : 17 Example 2 Show that three points (2, 5), (2, 7) and (6, 7) can construct a right-angled triangle.

The Midpoint of a Line Joining Two Points The midpoint of the line joining the points (x1, y1) and (x2, y2) is: [(x1 + x2), (y1 + y2)] Example 3 Find the coordinates of the midpoint of the line joining (1, 2) and (3, 1). Midpoint = [(3 + 1), (2 + 1)] = (2, 1.5)

Example 4 If AB is the diameter of a circle and A(a, 4b) and B(3a, 3b+1) Find the value of a and b given that the centre of the circle is (4,11). Answer: a=2, b=3

The Gradient of a Line Joining Two Points The gradient of the line joining the points (x1, y1) and (x2, y2) is: Example 5 Find the gradient of the line joining the points (5, 3) and (1, 4).
43 1 = 1 5 4
y 2 y1 x 2 x1

Gradient =

Parallel and Perpendicular Lines If two lines are parallel, then they have the same gradient. If two lines are perpendicular, then the product of the gradients of the two lines is -1. (m1m2=-1)

Example 6 a) y = 2x + 1 b) y = - x + 2 c) y = x - 3 The gradients of the lines are 2, - and 2 respectively. Therefore (a) and (b) and perpendicular, (b) and (c) are perpendicular and (a) and (c) are parallel.

The Equation of a Line (Linear Function) y=mx+c, where m is gradient, c is intercept of y

Example 8 Find the equation of the line with gradient 2 passing through (1, 4). Answer: y = 2x + 2

Example 9 Equation of a line whose x intercept is half as that of the line 3x + 4y = 12 and y intercept is twice as that of the same line. Answer: 3x + y = 6 Example 10 What is the equation of the line that is parallel to the line 3x + 7y = 10 and passes through the point (4, 8)? Answer: 3x + 7y = 68

Miscellaneous Questions 1. A triangle has vertices A (0, 2), B (3, 5) and C (5, -1). Find (a) the coordinates of the point M on AB such that MB=2AM, (b) the perpendicular distance from B to AC. Answer: (1, 3);
12 34 17

2. The points A and B have coordinates (1, 1) and (3, -2) respectively. Determine the coordinates of the two points at a distance 2 13 units from A and lying on the line passing through A and perpendicular to AB. Answer: (7, 5) (-5, -3)

3. Find the equation of the perpendicular bisector of the line joining the points B (-1, 0) and C (3, 4). Find also the coordinates of the point A which is equidistant from points B and C, and lying on the line 2y-3x=16 Answer: x+y=3, (-2, 5)

4. The equation 4x+3y 6 +p (2x-5y 16) = 0 represents a straight line for any value of p. Find the numerical value of p when this line (a) passes through the origin, (b) is parallel to the line 5x-6y-11=0, (c) is perpendicular to the line x+4y=0 Answer: -3/8, 3, 8/9

5. The sides of a parallelogram ABCD are parallel to the lines 8y-x=0 and 4y-7x=3. If the ends of the diagonal AC have coordinates (1, 4) and (5, -2), find the coordinates of the other two vertices. Prove that ABCD is a rhombus. Answer: (9, 5), (-3, -3)

6. The points A, B and D of a quadrilateral ABCD have coordinates (4, -2), (20, 12) and (-3, 6) respectively. The straight line DC is parallel to AB, and BC has the equation x+15y=200. Find the coordinates of C and prove that A is a right angle. Show also that AB=2DC. Answer: (5, 13)

7. The equations of the sides of a triangle are x=0, 2x+y=8 and 3x-y+3=0. Find the equations of the altitudes of the triangle. Show that the altitudes meet at a point and find its coordinates. Answer: x-2y+6=0, x+3y-24=0, y=6; (6,6)

8. If P is the point (-4, 1), find the coordinates of the point Q such that PQ is perpendicularly bisected by the straight line 2x+y-8=0. Answer: (8, 7)

9. Points A and C have coordinates (4, 1) and (1, 4) respectively. The point B is marked so that AB is parallel to and has the same length as OC, where O is the origin. Prove that OABC is a rhombus and find (a) the coordinates of point B, (b) the area of the rhombus, (c) the equation of the straight line passing through C and perpendicular to OA. Answer: (5, 5), 15unit2, 4x+y=8

10. Vertices A, B, C of a triangle have coordinates (1, 3), (-2, 1) and (2, 2) respectively. The straight line joining A to the origin meets BC at D. Find the ratio BD: DC. Answer: 7:4

11. The sides of a triangle lie along the lines y=3, 3y=5x+4 and 5x+3y=44. Prove that the triangle is isosceles and calculate (a) the length of the equal sides, (b) the area of triangle, (c) the coordinates of the fourth vertex of rhombus where its three other vertices are the vertices of the above triangle. Answer: 34 , 15, (4, -2)

12. Show that the equation of the perpendicular bisector of the line joining A (x1, y1) and B (x2, y2) is

(x1 x 2 )[2x (x1 + x 2 )] + (y1 y2 )[2y (y1 + y2 )] = 0

Find the coordinates of the point on the line 3x-4y+3=0 which is equidistant from points (2, 1) and (1, 5). Answer: (3 ,3
3 4 9 ) 16

13. Prove that the equation of the straight line joining the points (x1, y1), (x2, y2) is

x x1 y y1 = x1 x 2 y1 y 2
ABCD is a parallelogram and the coordinates of A, B, C are (-8, -11), (1, 2) and (4, 3) respectively. Find (a) the equations of AD and CD, (b) the coordinates of D, (c) the area of the parallelogram. Answer: x-3y=25, 13x-9y=25; (-5, -10), 30unit2

14. The straight line 3x+4y=10 is the perpendicular bisector of the base BC of an isosceles triangle ABC with AB=AC. The side AB is parallel to the line x+3y=0 and B is the point (1, 3). Find the coordinates of C and the area of a triangle. Answer: ( , ) , 3unit2
1 7 5 5

15. Points A and C have coordinates (-1, 2) and (9, 7) respectively. A rectangle ABCD has AC as a diagonal. Calculate the possible coordinates of B and D if the length of AB is 10 units. Answer: B (5, 10), D (3, -1) or B (9, 2), D (-1, 7)

16. A square has a vertex at point (5, -2) and diagonal along the straight line 3x-2y-6=0. Find the equation of the second diagonal of the rectangle and the coordinates of the other vertices. Answer: 2x+3y=4; (4, 3), (-1, 2), (0, -3)

17. The straight line 3x-4y+8=0 meets the y-axis at the point A. The straight line passing through C (2, 1) and perpendicular to the line 3x-4y+8=0 meets it at the point B. Calculate the area of triangle ABC. Answer: 1unit2