sat suite question viewer

Geometry and Trigonometry / Circles Difficulty: Hard

A circle in the xy-plane has its center at -5,2 and has a radius of 9 . An equation of this circle is x2+y2+ax+by+c=0, where a , b , and c are constants. What is the value of c ?

Back question 23 of 49 Next

Explanation

The correct answer is -52 . The equation of a circle in the xy-plane with its center at h,k and a radius of r can be written in the form x-h2+y-k2=r2. It's given that a circle in the xy-plane has its center at -5,2 and has a radius of 9 . Substituting -5 for h , 2 for k , and 9 for r in the equation x-h2+y-k2=r2 yields x--52+y-22=92, or x+52+y-22=81. It's also given that an equation of this circle is x2+y2+ax+by+c=0, where a , b , and c are constants. Therefore, x+52+y-22=81 can be rewritten in the form x2+y2+ax+by+c=0. The equation x+52+y-22=81, or x+5x+5+y-2y-2=81, can be rewritten as x2+5x+5x+25+y2-2y-2y+4=81. Combining like terms on the left-hand side of this equation yields x2+y2+10x-4y+29=81. Subtracting 81 from both sides of this equation yields x2+y2+10x-4y-52=0, which is equivalent to x2+y2+10x+-4y+-52=0. This equation is in the form x2+y2+ax+by+c=0. Therefore, the value of c is -52 .