The standard form of the equation of a circle with

its center at the origin is

x y r
2 2 2

r is the radius of the circle so if we take the square root of the

right hand side, we'll know how big the radius is.

Notice that both the x and y terms are squared. Linear

equations don’t have either the x or y terms squared.
Parabolas have only the x term squared (or only the y
term, but NOT both).
 Let's look at the equation x  y 9
2 2

This is r2 so r = 3
The center of the circle is at the origin and the radius is 3.
Let’s draw the graph this circle.

Count 3 units in Center at (0, 0)

all directions since
the radius is 3.

-7 -6 -5 -4 -3 -2 -1 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
 If the center of the circle is NOT at the origin then the
equation for the standard form of a circle looks like this:

x  h    y  k 
2 2
r 2

The center of the circle is at (h, k). This is r2 so r = 4

x  3   y  1
2 2
 16
Find the center and radius and graph this circle.
The center of the circle is at (h, k) which is (3,1).

The radius is 4

- - - - - - - 12345678
765432 1
0
If you take the equation of a circle in standard form for
example:
  
2
x2  y4  4
2
 This is r2 so r = 2
(x - (-2))

You can find the center and radius easily.

The center is at (-2, 4) and the radius is 2.

x  4 x  4  y  8 y  16  4
2 2

Moving everything to one side in descending order and

combining like terms we will obtain:

x  y  4 x  8 y  16  0
2 2
 x  y  4 x  8 y  16  0
2 2

If we'd have started with it like this, we'd have to complete the
square on both the x's and y's to get in standard form.
Move the constant
Group x terms and a place Group y terms and a place
term to the other
to complete the square to complete the square
side

x  4 x  ____  y  8 y  ____
2
4 2
16  16  ___
4  ___
16

Complete the square

Write in factored form and wahlah! You’re back in the
standard form.
x  2    y  4 
2 2
4
Now let's work some examples:

Find an equation of the circle with center at (0, 0) and radius 7.

Let's substitute the center and the radius in the standard form

x  0h    y  k0 
2 2
 7r 2

x  y  49
2 2
Find an equation of the circle with center at (0, 0) that passes
through the point (-1, -4).

Since the center is at (0, 0) we'll have

x y r
2 2 2

The point (-1, -4) is on the circle, so it should work when

we plug it in the equation:

 1   4
2 2
r 2
 1  16  17
Substituting this in for r2 we have:

x  y  17
2 2
Find an equation of the circle with center at (-2, 5)
and radius 6
Substituting the values in standard form we have:

x -2h    y  k5 
2 2
 6r 2

x  2    y  5 
2 2
 36
Find an equation of the circle with center at (8, 2) and
passes through the point (8, 0).
Substituting the center of the circle in standard form we have:

x  8h    y  k2 
2 2
r 2

Since it passes through the point (8, 0) we can plug this point in for
x and y to find r2.

8  8  0  2
2 2
r 2
4
x  8    y  2 
2 2
4
Identify the center and radius and sketch the graph:

9 x  9 y  64
2 2

9 9 9
To get in standard form the coefficients of the squared
terms should only be 1, so let's divide everything by 9.

Remember to extract
64
x y 
2 2 the root of this to get
the radius.
9
So the center is at (0, 0) and the radius is 8/3.

- - - - - - - 12345678
765432 1
0
Identify the center and radius and sketch the graph:

x  4   y  3
2 2
 25
Remember the center values end up being the opposite sign of what
is with the x and y and the right hand side is the radius squared.

So the center is at (-4, 3) and the radius is 5.

- - - - - - - 0123 4 56 78
7 654 32 1
 Find the center and radius of the circle:
x  y  6x  4 y  3  0
2 2

We have to complete the square on both the x's and y's to get in
standard form.
Move the
constant term to
Group x terms and a place Group y terms and a place the other side
to complete the square to complete the square

x  6 x  ____  y  4 y  ____
2
9 2
4  3  ___
9  ___
4
Write in factored form to arrive with the standard form.

 x  3   y  2 
2 2
 16
So the center is at (-3, 2) and the radius is 4.
Review
Write the equation of the circle given the center
and the radius
Center : (5, 4) Radius length: 7

(x-5)2 + ( y+4)2 = 49
Center : (3, 6) Radius length: 5

(x+3)2 + ( y- 6)2 = 25
Find the center, radius, & equation of the
circle.

The center is (0, 0)

The radius is 12

The equation is
x2 + y2 = 144
 Find the center, radius, & equation of the
circle.

The center is (1, -3)

The radius is 7
The equation is
(x – 1)2 + (y + 3)2 = 49
 Finding the Equation of a Circle

Circle A

The center is (16, 10)

The radius is 10

The equation is
(x – 16)2 + (y – 10)2 = 100
 Finding the Equation of a Circle
Circle B

The center is (4, 20)

The radius is 10

The equation is
(x – 4)2 + (y – 20)2 = 100
 Finding the Equation of a Circle

Circle O

The center is (0, 0)

The radius is 12

The equation is
x 2 + y 2 = 144
Write the standard equation of the circle. State the
center & radius.

x  y  4x  6 y  3  0
2 2

x 2
 4x  y 2
 6y 3
x 2
 4x  4   y  6 y  9  3  4  9
2

 x  2    y  3
2 2
 16
Center: (-2, 3) radius: 4
 Answer each of the following in a 1 whole sheet of
paper
A. Determine the center and the radius of the circle and
then transform into the general form.
1. (x - 8)2 + ( y + 3)2 = 36
2. (x + 2/3)2 + ( y – 1/2)2 = 8

B. Transform each of the following into the standard form and

then determine the center and the radius.
1. x2 + y2 – 10x + 14y – 18 = 0
2. 2x2 + 2y2 + 5x - 3y + 32 = 0

C. Find the equation of the circle with center at (-4, 2) and

tangent to the line 2x – y + 2 = 0.