All SAT Math Resources
Example Questions
Example Question #1 : How To Find The Equation Of A Circle
A circle exists entirely in the first quadrant such that it intersects the -axis at . If the circle intersects the -axis in at least one point, what is the area of the circle?
We are given two very important pieces of information. The first is that the circle exists entirely in the first quadrant, the second is that it intersects both the - and -axis.
The fact that it is entirely in the first quadrant means that it cannot go past the two axes. For a circle to intersect the -axis in more than one point, it would necessarily move into another quadrant. Therefore, we can conclude it intersects in exactly one point.
The intersection of the circle with must also be tangential, since it can only intersect in one point. We can thus conclude that the circle must have both - and - intercepts equal to 6 and have a center of .
This leaves us with a radius of 6 and an area of:
Example Question #1 : Circles
We have a square with length 2 sitting in the first quadrant with one corner touching the origin. If the square is inscribed inside a circle, find the equation of the circle.
If the square is inscribed inside the circle, in means the center of the circle is at (1,1). We need to also find the radius of the circle, which happens to be the length from the corner of the square to it's center.
Now use the equation of the circle with the center and .
We get
Example Question #1 : Circles
What is the radius of a circle with the equation ?
We need to expand this equation to and then complete the square.
This brings us to .
We simplify this to .
Thus the radius is 7.
Example Question #2 : How To Find The Equation Of A Circle
A circle has its origin at . The point is on the edge of the circle. What is the radius of the circle?
There is not enough information to answer this question.
The radius of the circle is equal to the hypotenuse of a right triangle with sides of lengths 5 and 7.
This radical cannot be reduced further.
Example Question #1 : How To Find The Equation Of A Circle
The endpoints of a diameter of circle A are located at points and . What is the area of the circle?
The formula for the area of a circle is given by A =πr2 . The problem gives us the endpoints of the diameter of the circle. Using the distance formula, we can find the length of the diameter. Then, because we know that the radius (r) is half the length of the diameter, we can find the length of r. Finally, we can use the formula A =πr2 to find the area.
The distance formula is
The distance between the endpoints of the diameter of the circle is:
To find the radius, we divide d (the length of the diameter) by two.
Then we substitute the value of r into the formula for the area of a circle.
Example Question #151 : Psat Mathematics
What is the equation for a circle of radius 9, centered at the intersection of the following two lines?
To begin, let us determine the point of intersection of these two lines by setting the equations equal to each other:
To find the y-coordinate, substitute into one of the equations. Let's use :
The center of our circle is therefore .
Now, recall that the general form for a circle with center at is
For our data, this means that our equation is:
Example Question #12 : Circles
Find the equation of the circle centered at with a radius of 3.
Write the standard equation of a circle, where is the center of the circle, and is the radius.
Substitute the point and radius.
Example Question #22 : Circles
A circle with a radius of five is centered at the origin. A point on the circumference of the circle has an x-coordinate of two and a positive y-coordinate. What is the value of the y-coordinate?
Recall that the general form of the equation of a circle centered at the origin is:
x2 + y2 = r2
We know that the radius of our circle is five. Therefore, we know that the equation for our circle is:
x2 + y2 = 52
x2 + y2 = 25
Now, the question asks for the positive y-coordinate when x = 2. To solve this, simply plug in for x:
22 + y2 = 25
4 + y2 = 25
y2 = 21
y = ±√(21)
Since our answer will be positive, it must be √(21).
Example Question #11 : Circles
What is the equation of a circle with center (1,1) and a radius of 10?
The general equation for a circle with center (h, k) and radius r is given by
.
In our case, our h-value is 1 and our k-value is 1. Our r-value is 10.
Substituting each of these values into the equation for a circle gives us
Example Question #15 : Circles
The following circle is moved spaces to the left. Where is its new center located?
None of the given answers.
Remember that the general equation for a circle with center and radius is .
With that in mind, our original center is at .
If we move the center units to the left, that means that we are subtracting from our given coordinates.
Therefore, our new center is .