Module 1: INTRODUCTION TO CONIC SECTIONS AND CIRCLES

I – LEARNING OUTCOMES OF THE LESSON

At the end of the lesson, the student is able to:
1. illustrate the different types of conic sections: parabola, ellipse, circle, hyperbola, and degenerate cases;
2. define a circle;
3. determine the standard form of equation of a circle; and
4. graph a circle in a rectangular coordinate system; and
5. solve situational problems involving conic sections (circles).

II – REFERENCES

Pelias, John Gabriel P. 2016. Pre – Calculus. Rex Book Store. Manila

Garces, Ian June L., Ph.D. 2016. Pre – Calculus. Published by the Commission on Higher Education in
collaboration with the Philippine Normal University.

III – LEARNING CONTENT

We introduce the conic sections, a particular class of curves which sometimes appear in nature and which
have applications in other fields. In this lesson, we discuss the first of their kind, circles. The other conic sections
will be covered in the next lessons.

An Overview of Conic Sections

We introduce the conic sections (or conics), a particular class of curves which oftentimes appear in nature
and which have applications in other fields. One of the first shapes we learned, a circle, is a conic. When you
throw a ball, the trajectory it takes is a parabola. The orbit taken by each planet around the sun is an ellipse.
Properties of hyperbolas have been used in the design of certain telescopes and navigation systems. We will
discuss circles in this lesson, leaving parabolas, ellipses, and hyperbolas for subsequent lessons.

• Circle (Figure 1.1) - when the plane is horizontal

• Ellipse (Figure 1.1) - when the (tilted) plane intersects only one cone to form a bounded curve

• Parabola (Figure 1.2) - when the plane intersects only one cone to form an unbounded curve

• Hyperbola (Figure 1.3) - when the plane (not necessarily vertical) intersects both cones to form two unbounded
curves (each called a branch of the hyperbola

We can draw these conic sections (also called conics) on a rectangular coordinate plane and find their
equations. To be able to do this, we will present equivalent definitions of these conic sections in subsequent
sections, and use these to find the equations.

There are other ways for a plane and the cones to intersect, to form what are referred to as degenerate
conics: a point, one line, and two lines. See Figures 1.4, 1.5 and 1.6.

Definition and Equation of a Circle

A circle may also be considered a special kind of ellipse (for the special case when the tilted plane is
horizontal). For our purposes, we will distinguish between these two conics.

1
 See Figure 1.7, with the pointC (3 ,1) shown. From the figure, the distance of A(−2, 1) from C is
AC=5 . By the distance formula, the distance of B(6 , 5) from C is BC= √ (6−3)2 +(5−1)2=5. There are other
points P such that PC =5. The collection of all such points which are 5 units away from C , forms a circle.

Definition
A circle is the locus of all points in the plane having the same fixed positive distances, called the radius,
from a fixed point, called the center. The point C is called the center of the circle.

The term radius is both used to refer to a segment from the center C to a point P on the circle, and the length of
this segment. See Figure 1.8, where a circle is drawn. It has center C (h , k ) and radius r >0 . A point P(x , y) is
on the circle if and only if PC =r . For any such point then, its coordinates should satisfy the following.
PC =r
√(x−h)2 +( y−k)2=r
2 2 2
( x−h) +( y−k ) =r

This is the standard equation of the circle with center C (h , k ) and radius r . If the center is the origin, then h=0
and k =0. The standard equation is then x 2+ y 2=r 2.

Example 1. In each item, give the standard equation of the circle satisfying the given conditions.

a. center at the origin, radius 4

b. center (−4 , 3), radius √ 7
c. circle in Figure 1.7
d. circle A in Figure 1.9
e. circle B in Figure 1.9
f. center (5 ,−6), tangent to the y−axis
g. center (5 ,−6), tangent to the x−axis
h. has a diameter with endpoints A(−1, 4) and B(4 , 2)

Solution:

2 2 2
a. x + y =r ~Equation with center @ origin
2 2 2
x + y =4 ~Substituting the value of r
2 2
x + y =16
b. ( x−h)2 +( y−k )2=r 2 ~Equation with center at (h , k )
2
[ x−(−4 ) ]2 +( y−3)2=√ 7 ~ Substituting h=−4 , k =3, and r =√ 7
2 2
(x +4 ) +( y−3) =7 ~ Simplification

c. Center:C (3 ,1); h=3 and k =1

Point A (−2 , 1 ) ; x=−2 and y=1
r =AC =√ (x−h)2 +( y−k)2= √ (−2−3)2 +(1−1)2 =√−5 2=√ 25=5
2 2 2
( x−h) +( y−k ) =r ~Equation
2 2 2
(x−3) +( y−1) =5 ~ Substituting the value of h , k , and r .
2 2
( x−3) +( y−1) =25

2
 d. By inspection, the center is (−2 ,−1) and the radius is 4
2 2 2
( x−h) +( y−k ) =r
2 2 2
[ x−(−2 ) ] +[ y− (−1 ) ] =4
2 2
( x +2) +( y +1) =16

e. Similarly, by inspection, we have C (3 , 2) and r =3.

2 2 2
x (x−h) +( y−k ) =r
( x−3 )2 + ( y −2 )2=32
2 2
( x−3) +( y−2) =9

f. r =5 center (5 ,−6), tangent to the y−axis

● The center is 5 units away from the y-axis, so
y (5 ,−6) the radius is r =5

2 2 2
(x−h) +( y−k ) =r
2 2 2
(x−5) +[ y− (−6 ) ] =5
2 2
( x−5) +( y + 6) =25

g. center (5 ,−6), tangent to the x−axis

The center is 6 units away from the x-axis, so r =6 (try to sketch the graph)
2 2 2
( x−h) +( y−k ) =r
2 2 2
(x−5) +[ y− (−6 ) ] =6
2 2
(x−5) +( y + 6) =36

h. The center C is the midpoint of A(−1, 4) and B(4 , 2)

C= ( −1+2 4 , 4 +22 )=( 32 , 62 )=( 32 ,3)

2 2
( x−h) +( y−k ) =r
2
3 2
2 √
r =AC =√ (x−h)2 +( y−k)2= (−1− ) +(4−3)2=
25
4
+1=
29
4 √ √
√
2 2
3 2 29
(x− ) +( y−3) =
2 4
2
3 2 29
(x− ) +( y−3) =
2 4
More Properties of Circles
After expanding, the standard equation
2
3 2 29
(x− ) +( y−3) =
2 4
can be rewritten as
2 2
x + y −3 x−6 y−5=0 ,
an equation of the circle in general form.

If the equation of a circle is given in the general form

2 2
A x + A y +Cx + Dy+ E=0 , A ≠ 0
2 2
or x + y +Cx + Dy+ E=0
3
we can determine the standard form by completing the square in both variables.

Example 2. Identify the center and radius of the circle with the given equation in each item. Sketch its graph, and
indicate the center.

a. x 2+ y 2−6 x=7
b. x 2+ y 2−14 x +2 y=−14
c. 16 x 2+ 16 y 2+ 96 x−40 y=315
d. x 2+ y 2+ 6 x−10 y+ 34=0

Solution:
a. x 2+ y 2−6 x=7
2 2
(x −6 x )+ y =7 ~ Group terms with the same variable and transpose constant to
the right side
( x 2−6 x +9 ) + y 2=7+9 ~ Completing the square (Review lectures from grade 9)
2 2
(x−3) + y =16 ~ Standard Form of the equation

C ( 3 , 0)
2
r =16 ,r =4

2 2
b. x + y −14 x +2 y=−14
(x ¿¿ 2−14 x )+( y ¿¿ 2+2 y )=−14 ¿ ¿ ~ Group terms with the same variable and transpose
constant to the right side
(x ¿¿ 2−14 x + 49)+( y ¿¿ 2+2 y +1)=−14+ 49+1 ¿ ¿ ~ Completing the square
2 2
(x−7) +( y+ 1) =36 ~ Standard Form of the equation

C ( 7 ,−1 )
2
r =36 ,r =6

2 2
c. 16 x + 16 y + 96 x−40 y=315
2 2
(16 x + 96 x)+(16 y −40 y )=315
2 2 5
16(x +6 x )+16 ( y − y )=315 ~ Factor out 16 from both group
2
5
16 ( x 2 +6 x+ 9 ) +16 y 2− y +
2
25
16 ( ) 25
=315+16 ( 9 ) +16 ( )
16
2
2 5
16(x +3) +16 ( y− )
4 484
=
16 16
2
2 5 121
(x +3) +( y− ) =
4 4

(
C −3 ,
5
4 )
r 2=
121
4
,r=
121 11
4
= =5.5
2 √
4
 In the standard equation (x−h)2 +( y−k )2=r 2, both the two squared terms on the left side have
coefficient 1. This is the reason why in the preceding example, we divided by 16 at the last equation.

2 2
d. x + y + 6 x−10 y+ 34=0
(x ¿¿ 2+6 x)+ ( y 2−10 y )=−34 ¿
(x ¿¿ 2+6 x +9)+ ( y 2−10 y +25 ) =−34+ 9+25 ¿
2 2
( x +3) +( y−5) =0

C (−3 , 5 ) , r =0
The graph is just a single point since r =0.

Note: The graph of an equation is an EMPTY SET if r <0 .

Situational Problems Involving Circles

Example 3. A street with two lanes, each 10 ft wide, goes through a semicircular tunnel with radius 12 ft . How
high is the tunnel at the edge of each lane? Round off to 2 decimal places.

Solution:
We draw a coordinate system with origin at the middle of the highway, as shown.
 Because of the given radius, the tunnel’s boundary is on the circle x 2+ y 2=122.
 Point P is the point on the arc just above the edge of a lane, so its x−¿ coordinate is 10 . We need its y-
coordinate.
 We then solve 102 + y 2=122
2 2 2
y =12 −10
2
y =144−100=44
y= √ 44=6.63 ft ~ Height of the tunnel at the edge of each lane

●
(−3 , 5 )