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Equations of a Circle

Author: Leif Park Jordan

Introduction to Circles

This video presents the standard form of the equation of a circle and shows how it relates to the graph of the circle.

Source: David on Guaranteach

Derivation of the Standard Equation of a Circle

Using the distance formula, it's fairly easy to see where our standard equation of a circle comes from. We want to find all the points that are a distance r from the center point - that's the definition of a circle. Call the center point (h,k), and choose an arbitrary point (x,y) on the circle, like so:

Circle on axes

For every (x,y), the distance formula tells us that the distance between (h,k) and (x,y) is square root of left parenthesis x minus h right parenthesis squared plus left parenthesis y minus k right parenthesis squared end root. We know that we want this distance to be r, so we have r space equals space square root of left parenthesis x minus h right parenthesis squared plus left parenthesis y minus k right parenthesis squared end root. By squaring both sides, we get r squared equals left parenthesis x minus h right parenthesis squared plus left parenthesis y minus k right parenthesis squared, which is the standard form of the equation of a circle.

Converting to Standard Form

This video demonstrates how to convert a circle's equation to standard form.

Source: Kevin Kriescher on Guaranteach

Finding the Equation of a Circle

This video demonstrates how to use a graph of a circle to determine the circle's equation.

Source: David on Guaranteach

Graphing a Circle

This video demonstrates how to sketch a graph of a circle.

Source: Timothy Palma on Guaranteach