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#1 2008-11-03 21:57:27

ea12345
Member
Registered: 2008-11-03
Posts: 0

please help me urgent

x^2 + y^2 + 8x + 8 = 0 find the radius and center

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#2 2008-11-04 00:42:52

TheDude
Member
Registered: 2007-10-23
Posts: 361

Re: please help me urgent

All circles can be described by the equation (x - a)^2 + (y - b)^2 = r^2, where the center is located at (a, b) and has a radius of r.  What you have to do is work with your equation to get it to fit into the general equation I just gave you.

Figuring out b is simple.  Since there is no y term you know that b has to be 0.

Finding a is only slightly more difficult.  Expanding the expression (x - a)^2 gives us x^2 - 2ax + a^2.  Our x term is 8x, so we know that 8x = -2ax, which gives us a = -4.

We're not quite done with x yet, since (x + 4)^2 = x^2 + 8x + 16, but we don't have a term of 16.  We do have an 8, so what we can do is add 8 to both sides.  This gives us (x + 4)^2 + (y - 0)^2 = 8, and your work is done.


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