What Is Circle?

With the exception of another "fact", at the time when, around the age of twelve, I was interned in the concentration camp of Rieucros (near Mende). It is there that I learnt, from another prisoner, Maria, who gave me free private lessons, the definition of the circle. It impressed me by its simplicity and its evidence, whereas the property of "perfect rotundity" of the circle previously had appeared to me as a reality mysterious beyond words. It is at that moment, I believe, that I glimpsed for the first time (without of course formulating it to myself in these terms) the creative power of a "good" mathematical definition, of a formulation which describes the essence. Still today, it seems that the fascination which this power exercised on me has lost nothing of its force. Alexandre Grothendieck In original French: Esquisse d'un Programme (p. 44) In English translation: Sketch of a Program (p. 274) (My sincere thanks go to V. Gutenmacher who brought the quote to my attention.) Circle is the locus of points equidistant from a given point, the center of the circle. The common distance from the center of the circle to its points is called radius. Thus a circle is completely defined by its center (O) and radius (R): C(O, R) = O(R) = {x: dist(O, x) = R}. This definition that appears so natural to a 21st century reasonably educated person is markedly different from the one given by Euclid (Definition I.15). In Sir Heath's translation: A circle is a plane figure contained by one line such that all the straight lines falling upon it from one point among those lying within the figure are equal to one another. And in the translation by Robert Simson: A circle is a plane figure contained by one line, which is called circumference, and is such, that all straight lines drawn from a certain point within the figure to the circumference, are equal to one another. As an extra, comes Definition I.16: And the point is called the center of the circle.

What is so different between our definition and Euclid's? Strange as it may seem, Euclid did not have a notion of metric or a distance function. Nowhere in the Elements he refers to a distance between two points, but only to the length of the line segment joining the two. The whole of geometry has been developed without the idea of a 2d-distance! And so it does not seem to be necessary. The definition we gave which is the most common nowadays is the outgrowth of the culture permeated by analytic geometry. Ironically, in the modern terminology being Euclidean exactly means being in possession of a suitable metric. Euclid might have objected. Now, returning to the 21st century, our definition is meaningful in any metric space. For some metrics the circles may look rather square. However, a circle looks like a circle in Euclidean geometry. Although the Euclidean circle has much to recommend it for, long, long ago Piet Hein has discovered that circles in the metric dist((x1, y1), (x2, y2)) = ((x1 - x2)5/2 + (y1 - y2)5/2)2/5 are more pleasant to the eye than the Euclidean ones. For square circles, it is relatively simple to define their length as the sum of lengths of the constituent sides. The length of the Euclidean (ordinary) circle may be approximately measured to any precision with a variety of means. A rigorous definition, nonetheless, requires a theory of limits - the fundamental notion in Calculus. The length of a circle is usually called its circumference. In any affine space endowed with a metric, all circles are similar. Which does not mean there is similarity between circles in various metric spaces. But which does mean that, however defined, the ratio of the circumference to the radius of circles in a given metric space is constant. It may vary between spaces, though. In Euclidean space, the ratio equals 2, named so by L. Euler. The most common tool for constructing (Euclidean) circles is the venerable compass. But there are of course other ways. The inversion can be used to convert circular motion into rectilinear and vice versa. A circle is also traced by the point common to two lighthouse beams rotating at the same angular speed. The midpoint of a ladder sliding down a wall also traces a circle. Circle is also the locus of points having the same ratio of distances to a pair of points. Circle (a part of it actually) is also the locus of points from which a given line segment is seen under a given angle. The line joining the center of the circle to one of its points is often called the radius-vector of that point, or just one of the radii. Likewise, the word diameter is used in two different, but close meanings. On one hand, diameter is the largest distance between any two points on a circle. As such, it equals twice the radius of the circle. For a given circle, there is exactly one and only one diameter. On the other hand, the word "diameter" designates a line segment joining a point on the circle with its opposite, i.e. the point farthest away from the point at hand. For every point on a circle there is exactly one diameter that contains this point. The length of a diameter, as a line segment, is exactly the diameter, as a number. Any diameter passes through the center of the circle and is divided by the center into two equal halves, each the length of the radius. In Cartesian coordinates, circle is defined by a second degree equation:

(x - x0)2 + (y - y0)2 = R2, where (x0, y0) is the center of the circle and R its radius. The polar coordinates of a circle centered at the origin are particularly simple: r = R. A segment of a line joining two points on a circle is called a chord; a piece of a circle between two points is an arc. A chord that passes through the center of the circle is (ambiguously) called a diameter. Diameter is the longest chord in a circle. A shape bounded by an arc and a chord with the same end points is a segment. A central angle is formed by two radius-vectors. A central angle cuts from a circle a sector. A straight line that has only one point in common with a circle is tangent to the circle. Other than tangents, straight lines cross a circle either in no points or in two points. The lines of the latter variety are called secants. Two secants that meet on a circle define an inscribed angle. Two radii define a central angle. Two intersecting chord are divided by the point of intersection into two parts each such that the products of their lengths are equal. This is known as the Intersecting Chords Theorem. The latter carries on to the intersecting secants and gives rise to the important notion of the power of a point with respect to a circle. Triangles always have one inscribed and one circumscribed circle. Three more circles (excircles) touch the triangle's sidelines. Many other special circles are associated with a triangle: 9-Point circle, Taylor circle, Tucker circles, Adams' circle, to name a few. Archimedes has discovered his Twin Circles in the wonderful arbelos. Some quadrilaterals have inscribed circles, and these are called inscriptible. Other quadrilaterals have concyclic vertices, and these are called circumscriptible, or cyclic. Those quadrilaterals that have both inscribed and circumscribed circles are said to be bicentric. Surprisingly, in many respects circles behave like straight lines. Nowehere it is more apparent than in inversive geometry. The Circle: A circle is a plane curve consisting of all points that have the same distance from a fixed point called center the common distance of the points on the curve from the center is called the radius. The region bounded by the circle is also often referred to as a circle (as when we speak of the area of a circle), the curve is referred to as the perimeter or the circumference of the circle. Note: that when the number of sides of a polygon is increased without limit, the sides merge into one line and polygon becomes a circle.

The Basics:

A circle is a plane figure bounded by one curved line where all of its point is at a constant distance from a fixed point in the plane, which is termed as the center of the circle. The constant distance of every point on the circle from its centre is called the radius of the circle. As we move ahead, its important for the learners to get acquainted with the basic terms related to a circle. Circle: A circle is a set of those points in a plane, which are at a constant distance from a fixed point in the plane. Radius: The distance from the center of a circle to any given point on the circle is known as the radius of a circle Diameter: Any straight line drawn through the centre and ending at both ways by the circumference is called diameter. Diameter is just the double of radius. Circumference: The distance around a circle, which is the bounding line is called the circumference. Chord: A straight line joining any two points on the circumference of a circle is called a chord. Arc: Any portion of the circumference of a circle is referred as an arc In Detail: As you gaze around, you must have come across different geometrical figures like square, rectangle and others in some form or the other. Surely, a circle is also no exception. The most common sight of a circle would be the wheel. Have you ever noticed the base of a flower-vase, bucket or a coffee -mug? The bases of all these objects are circular. A point lying inside a circle is called an interior point of the circle whereas a point lying outside a circle is termed as an exterior point of the circle. Similarly, the set of interior points of a circle is called the interior of the circle whereas the set of all exterior points of a circle is called the exterior of the circle. Remember, all the diameters of a circle are equal. Similarly all radii (plural of radius is radii) of a circle are equal, since all the points on the circumference are equidistant from the center. In the

given picture where the centre is O and the AB is the diameter of a circle and OA and OB are radii.

It is important to understand that since OA = OB OA+OB= AB AB = 2 x OA Or, AB = 2 x OB

Picture:

A straight line connecting any two points on the circumference of a circle is called a chord. In this context, it must be remembered that if a chord passes through the centre, it becomes diameter. Therefore, a diameter is also a chord, which passes through the centre.

In the above given picture AB and CD are the chords of the circle. Any diameter divides a circle into two equal parts and each part is known as semi-circle. In the given picture diameter AB divides the circle into two equal halves. Congruency of a circle: Two circles can be called congruent if and only if one of them can be superposed on the other to cover it completely. In other words, if the radii (plural of radius) of two circles are of same measurement, then the two circles are congruent. The degree measure of a circle is 360 degree. An arc is the portion of the circumference of a circle. Arcs are measured in degrees similar to angles and can be classified into major arc, minor arc, and semi- circles. The larger of the two arcs is called the major arc, which measures between 180 and 360 degrees and the smaller one is called the minor arc which is between 0 and 180 degrees. The measure of a semi-circle is 180 degree. Different Types of circles:

Concentric circles: Circles having the same centre but different radii are known as concentric circles.

Intersecting Circles: When two circles cut each other at two different points, they are called intersecting circles.

Circumscribed Circle: A rectilinear figure is said to be inscribed in a circle when all its angular points lie on the circumference of a circle then the circle is referred to be circumscribed in respect to that figure

Inscribed Circle: A rectilinear figure is referred to be circumscribed in a circle when all its sides are tangent to the circle. Then the circle is referred to be inscribed in respect to that figure. In the previous chapter of angles, you have come across a protractor used for measuring angles. As you touch the circle portion of geometry, you will come across another geometrical tool compass used for the construction of a circle apart from its other uses.