The equation of a circle is x^2-6x+y^2+4y=12. Complete the square to find the centre and radius of the circle.

When we complete the square, we're looking for an equation that looks like (x-a)2 + (y-b)2 = r2, where (a,b) is the centre and r is the radius. When we expand brackets using FOIL, the x part is (x2-2ax+a2). This means the term with x in it has a coefficient of 2a. Therefore halving it will give us a! So let's apply this to our equation. The x term has a coefficient of -6 and the y term has a coefficient of +4. Dividing these by 2 we get -3 and 2. So the centre is (-3,2)! Now since (-3)2=9 and (2)2=4 we can add these on two complete the squares: x2-6x+9-9 + y2+4x+4-4=12 (x-3)2-9 + (y+2)2 -4 = 12 (x-3)2 + (y+2)2 = 25 (x-3)2 + (y+2)2 = 52 So the radius is 5!

HA

Related Maths A Level answers

All answers ▸

Express 6cos(2x)+sin(x) in terms of sin(x). Hence solve the equation 6cos(2x) + sin(x) = 0, for 0° <= x <= 360°.


Integrate the function f(x) = 1/(4x-1)


Integrate cos(4x)+16x^3 with respect to x


A curve has the equation x^2 +2x(y)^2 + y =4 . Find the expression dy/dx in terms of x and y [6]