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College Algebra Problems With Answers

This document presents 11 sample college algebra problems involving equations of circles. The problems cover finding equations of circles given properties like the center and radius, finding the center and radius from an equation, finding points of intersection and tangency. The document also provides step-by-step solutions to all 11 problems at the bottom.

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Cornelius
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906 views8 pages

College Algebra Problems With Answers

This document presents 11 sample college algebra problems involving equations of circles. The problems cover finding equations of circles given properties like the center and radius, finding the center and radius from an equation, finding points of intersection and tangency. The document also provides step-by-step solutions to all 11 problems at the bottom.

Uploaded by

Cornelius
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOC, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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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

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