AS Level Maths: Circles

1 The circle C has the equation x2 + y2 – 2x + 6y = 26

Find:
(i) The coordinates of the centre of C
(ii) the radius of C

(Total for question 1 is 3 marks)

2 The circle C has centre (2, 5) and passes through point (4, 9).

Find and equation for C.

(Total for question 2 is 3 marks)

3 The circle C has centre (–2, 3) and passes through point (1, 8).

(a) Find and equation for C. (4)

(b) Show that the point (3, 6) lies on C. (1)
(c) Find the equation to the tangent to C at (3,6). (5)
Give your answer in the form ax + by + c = 0, where a, b and c are integers.

(Total for question 3 is 10 marks)

4 The circle C has centre (2, 5) and radius 7.

(a) Find and equation for C. (2)

The line y = 3x – 1 intersects C at the points A and B.

(b) Find the exact coordinates of A and B. (6)

(Total for question 4 is 8 marks)

5 The circle C has the equation x2 + y2 + 8x – 4y + k = 0

Where k is a constant.

Given that the point (1, 5) lies on C.

(a) Find the value of k (2)

(b) Find the coordinates of the centre and the radius of C (3)

A straight line that passes through the point A (3, 7) is a tangent to the circle C at the point B

(c) Find the exact length of the line AB (5)

(Total for question 5 is 10 marks)

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6 The points D, E and F have coordinates (-3, 2), (4, -1) and (1, -8) respectively.

(a) Show that angle DEF is a right angle.

(4)
Given that D, E and F all lie on the circle C.

(b) Find the coordinates of the centre of C.

(3)
(c) Find the equation of the circle C.
(3)

(Total for question 6 is 10 marks)

7 The circle C has the equation x2 + y2 – 6x + 2y = 6

(a) Find the coordinates of the centre and the radius of C (3)

C crosses the y axis at the points A and B

(b) Find the coordinates of the points A and B (3)

(Total for question 7 is 6 marks)

8 The points A and B have coordinates (-3, 5) and (13, -4) respectively.

Given that AB is a diameter of the circle C.

Find an equation for C.

(Total for question 8 is 6 marks)

9 The circle C has centre (1, 5) and passes through the point A (-4, 3).

(a) Find an equation for C. (4)

(b) Find an equation for the tangent to C at A, giving your answer in the form ax + by + c = 0,
where a, b and c are integers (4)

(Total for question 9 is 8 marks)

10 The circle C has centre (5, k), where k is a constant.

The line y = 2x + 1 is a tangent to the circle C, touching C at the point A (3, 7).

Find an equation for C.

(Total for question 10 is 5 marks)

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11 The circle C has the equation x2 + y2 – 14x + 2y + 40 = 0
(a) Find:
(i) The coordinates of the centre of C
(ii) the exact radius of C (3)
The line with equation y = kx where k is a constant, meets C at two distinct points.
(b) Find the range of possible values of k. (6)

(Total for question 11 is 9 marks)

12 The circle C has the equation x2 + y2 – 8x + 6y + 5 = 0

(a) Find:
(i) The coordinates of the centre of C
(ii) the exact radius of C (3)
The line with equation y = k where k is a constant, is a tangent to C.
(b) Find the possible values of k. (2)

(Total for question 12 is 5 marks)

13 The circle C has the equation x2 + y2 – 6x – 12y = 0

The line l is a tangent to C at the point (8, 3).
Find the equation of l in the form ax + by + c = 0
(Total for question 13 is 5 marks)

14 The circle C has the equation x2 + y2 – 8x – 10y + k = 0 , where k is a constant.

Given the C lies entirely in the first quadrant, find the range of possible values of k.

(Total for question 14 is 4 marks)

15 The line y = mx – 2 is a tangent to the circle x2 + 6x + y2 – 8y + 5 = 0

Find the two possible values of m, giving your answers in exact form.

(Total for question 15 is 7 marks)

16 The line y = mx + 2 is a tangent to the circle (x – 5)2 + (y + 1)2 = 15

Find the two possible values of m, giving your answers in exact form.

(Total for question 16 is 7 marks)

17 The circle C has the equation x2 + y2 – 4x – 6y = 48

(2)
(a) Find the coordinates of the centre of C
(b) Find equation of the tangent to the circle at the point (7, 9) (4)

(Total for question 17 is 6 marks)

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18 A circle C has centre (10, 6) and radius 2 √ 17
A line L has equation y = mx
(a) Show that the x-coordinate of any points of intersection of C and L satisfies the equation.

(m2 + 1)x2 – (12m + 20)x + 68 = 0 (3)

(b) Find values of m for which the equation in (a) has equal roots. (3)
(c) Two lines drawn from the origin which are tangents to C.
Find the coordinates of the points of contact between the tangents and C. (4)
(Total for question 18 is 10 marks)

2 2
19 The lines with equations y= x and y=− x are tangents to a circle at (3, 2) and (3, -2)
respectively. 3 3

Find an equation for the circle.

(Total for question 19 is 6 marks)

20 The circle with equation x2 + y2 – 10x + ky + 20 = 0 has radius 3.

Find the two possible values of the constant k.

(Total for question 20 is 4 marks)

21 The diagram shows line with equation y + 3x = 2 which is a tangent to a circle with centre (11, -1).

Find an equation for the circle.

(Total for question 21 is 4 marks)

22 Find the centre of the circle with equation x2 + y2 – 8x + 10y = 15

(Total for question 22 is 1 mark)

23 The points A(4, a) and B(13, 6) lie on a circle.

1
AB is a diameter of the circle and has a gradient of
3
The circle has equation (x – c) + (y – d) = e where c, d and e are rational numbers.
2 2

Find the values of a, c, d and e.

(Total for question 23 is 6 marks)

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24 The sketch shows circle C with centre P(6.5, 7)
1
The line l with equation y = x is a tangent to C at point Q(8, 4)
2
y

l
Q

(a) Find and equation for C

(4)
1
The line with equation y = x + k , where k is a non-zero constant, is also a tangent to C.
2
(b) Find the value of k. (3)

(Total for question 24 is 7 marks)

25 A circle has equation (x + 3)2 + (y – 4)2 = 25

Find the gradient of the tangent to the circle at the origin.
(Total for question 25 is 2 marks)

26 A circle C with radius 5 passes through (0, 0) and (0, 8).

(1)
(a) Sketch the two possible positions of C.
(b) Find the equations of the two circles. (3)
(Total for question 26 is 4 marks)

27 A circle C with centre (2, 1) passes through the point (-1, 3).
A line L passes through the points (1, -4) and (10, 2).
Show that L is a tangent to C.
(Total for question 27 is 7 marks)

28 A circle C with centre (4, -1) and radius 10.

A line L passes through the points (-2, 1) and (14, 9).
Find the points of intersection of L and C.
(Total for question 28 is 8 marks)

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