1

Mathematics IV: Advanced Algebra

Chapter 2: Circles and Lines

Lesson 2.1: The Rectangular Coordinate System
Each of the pairs of numbers () ( ) and () is an example of an ordered
pair; that is, a pair of numbers written within parentheses in which the order of the numbers is
important. The two numbers are the components of the ordered pair. an ordered pair is
graphed using two real number lines that intersect at right angles at the zero points, as shown
in Figure 2.1. The common zero point is called the origin. The horizontal line, the ,
represents the second. The and the make up a rectangular coordinate
system, or the . The axes form four quadrants, numbered I, II, III, and IV as
shown in Figure 2.1. (A point on an axis is not considered to be in any of the four quadrants.)



Figure 2.1

We locate, or plot, the point on the coordinate system that corresponds to the ordered
pair () by going one unit from zero to the right alone the axis, and then two units up
parallel to the axis. The phrase the point corresponding to the ordered pair () often is
abbreviated the point (). The numbers in an ordered pair are called the coordinates of the
corresponding point. In particular, the first coordinate is referred to as the ,
and the second coordinate is referred to as the . If the point () is labeled
as point , we often write (). The set of all ordered pairs of real numbers is denoted by

; that is

*( ) +.

The parentheses used to represent an ordered pair are also used to represent an open
interval (introduced in an earlier chapter). In general, there should be no confusion between
these symbols because the context of the discussion tells us whether we are discussing ordered
pair or open intervals.
2

The French philosopher Ren Descartes (1595 1650) is the person usually credited
with the invention of the rectangular coordinate system. In honor of Descartes, the rectangular
coordinate system is often referred to as the Cartesian Coordinate System. As a philosopher,
Descartes is responsible for the statement I think, therefore I am. Until Descartes invented his
coordinate system in 1637, algebra and geometry were treated as separate subjects. The
rectangular (or Cartesian) coordinate system allows us to connect algebra and geometry by
associating geometric shapes with algebraic equations. In this sense, the Cartesian coordinate
system is being superimposed on the Euclidean plane so that the definitions, axioms and the
theorems of Euclidean geometry apply.



Figure 2.2

Suppose that we wish to find the distance || between two points (

) and
(

). The Pythagorean Theorem allows us to do this. See figure 2.2. Let be the point with
coordinates (

). It is easy to see that || |

| and || |

|. By
Pythagorean Theorem, we have
||

||

||

.
We have just proven the following theorem.

THEOREM 2.1.1 DISTANCE FORMULA
The distance between the points (

) and (

) is given by
|| (

EXAMPLE 2.1.2 Determine whether the points () () () form an isosceles
triangle.

EXAMPLE 2.1.3 Prove that the points () ( ) () are vertices of a right
triangle.

EXAMPLE 2.1.4 Show that the points ( ) () () are collinear.
3

The midpoint of a line segment is the point on the segment that is equidistant from
both endpoints. Given the coordinates of two endpoints of a line segment, it is not difficult to
find the coordinates of the midpoint of the segment.

THEOREM 2.1.5 MIDPOINT FORMULA
The midpoint of the line segment with endpoints (

) and (

) is ( ), where

and

Proof: See Figure 2.3. Let be the midpoint, the midpoint with coordinates (

), the
point with coordinates (

), and the point with coordinates (

). Since line is
parallel to line and is the midpoint of the line segment , is the midpoint of
the line segment . Thus, we have

. Similarly, can be computed.

Figure 2.3

One can also prove Theorem 2.1.5 by noting that, by ASA Congruence Theorem,
.

EXAMPLE 2.1.6 One endpoint of a line segment is () and its midpoint is (). Find the
other endpoint.

EXAMPLE 2.1.7 Find the coordinates of the points that divide the line segment joining the
points ( ) and () into four equal parts.

EXAMPLE 2.1.8 The line segment

is extended an equal length in both directions so that

the length of the resulting segment is three times that of the original length. Find the
coordinates of the endpoints

and

of the extended line segment if

( ) and

().

EXAMPLE 2.1.9 If the point () divides the line segment from () to ( ) such that
||
||

, find the coordinates of point .

(

)
( )
(

)
4

EXAMPLE 2.1.10 Prove that the diagonals of a parallelogram bisect each other.































5

EXERCISES 2.1
In exercises 1 to 2, determine in which quadrant or on what coordinates axis each point lies.
Describes the distance of each point from the and the .

1.
()
()

()
()

()
()

()
()

2.
()
()

()
()

()
()

()
()


In exercises 3 to 14, find the distance between and and find the midpoint of the line
segment from to .
3. () and ()
4. ( ) and ()
5. () and ()
6. ( ) and( )
7. (

) and (

)
8. (

) and (

)
9. ( ) and ( )
10. ( ) and ( )
11. ( ) and ( )
12. ( ) and ( )
13. ( ) and ()
14. () and ( )
15. Find the lengths of the medians of the triangle having vertices () () and
( ).
16. Find the length of the medians of the triangle having the vertices () ( ) and
( ).
17. Determine whether the following points are vertices of a right triangle: () () and
()
18. Determine whether the following points are vertices of a right triangle: ( ) ()
and ( )
19. Determine whether ( ) is on the line segment joining () and ( ).
20. Determine whether ( ) is on the line segment joining ( ) and( )
21. Determine whether the points ( ) () and ( ) are collinear.
22. Determine whether the points () ( ) and () are collinear.
23. If the point ( ) is equidistant from ( ) and (), find .
24. Find the point on the equidistant from ( ) and ().
25. Find the point on the equidistant from ( ) and ().
26. If the point ( ) is equidistant from () and (), find .
27. One endpoint of a line segment is () and its midpoint is (). Find the other point.
6

28. One endpoint of a line segment is () and its midpoint is (

). Find the other

endpoint.
29. Show that the triangle with vertices ( ) () and () is isosceles. Find its
area.
30. Show that the triangle with points () () ( ) and ( ) are vertices
of a square. Find its area.
31. Without using the distance formula, find the points and that divide into
congruent segments if the points and are () and ().
32. Find the coordinates of a point which is on the line segment joining the points

( )
and

( ) and is three times as far from

as it is from

.
33. Find the point(s) on the line through

() and

() such that

.
34. Let be a point on the line passing through () and () but not on the segment
. Find the coordinates of if it is twice as far from as from .
35. Given ( ) and (), find the point

of the way from to .

36. Given () and ( ), find the point

of the way from to .

37. If the point (

) divides the line segment from ( ) to ( ) such that is the

point

of the way from to , find the coordinates of the point

38. If the point () divides the line segment from ( ) to ( ) such that
|

|
|

,
find the coordinates of point .











7

Lesson 2.2 Circles
An application of the Distance Formula (Theorem 2.1.1) leads to one of the most
familiar shapes in geometry. A circle is the set of all points in a plane that lie a fixed distance
from a fixed point. The fixed point is called the center, and the fixed distance is called the
radius.

Figure 2.5

Let ( ) be a point on a circle with radius and center at ( ). See figure 2.5. Then,
by the Distance Formula, we have ( )

( )

.
Squaring both sides gives the following theorem.

THEOREM 2.2.1
The equation of a circle of radius with center at ( ) is
( )

( )

In particular, a circle of radius with center at the origin has equation

The first equation in Theorem 2.2.1 is the center radius form or the standard form of
the equation of a circle.

A diameter of a circle is a line segment joining two points of the circle and passing
through the center.

EXAMPLE 2.2.2 Fine an equation of a circle whose diameter has endpoints at

( ) and

().
Solution: The center of the circle is the midpoint of the given diameter. If ( ) is the
center of the circle, then

and

.

8

Thus, the center is at (). The radius of the circle is equal to |

| (or |

|
or

| ).
|

| ( )

( )

Using Theorem 2.2.1, an equation of the circle is
( )

( )

()

Or, simply, ( )

( )

The equation in Example 2.2.2 can also be written in another form by expanding the
squared expressions:
( )

( )

) (

The last equation is the so called general form of the equation of a circle. Every
equation of a circle can be written in the general form

Where are constants, . Note that we can assume that

EXAMPLE 2.2.3 Determine the center and the radius of the circle whose equation is

EXAMPLE 2.2.4 Find all values of such that the circle whose equation is

is tangent to the .

Every circle has an equation in general form. However, the graph of an equation of the
form

Where are constants, is not necessarily a circle. We can explain this statement by
completing the squares, and writing the above equation in the form
( )

( )

Here, the value of will either be positive, zero, or negative.
(i) The graph is a circle if and only if
(ii) The graph is a single point ( ) if and only if
(iii) The graph is an empty set if and only if

EXAMPLE 2.2.5 Determine whether the graph of the following equation is a circle, a point, or an
empty set:

EXAMPLE 2.2.6 Find the values of so that the graph of the equation

Is a circle, a point, or an empty set.
9

EXERCISES 2.2
In exercises 1 6, find the center and the radius of the circle. Then sketch a graph of the circle.
1.

2.

3.

( )

4. (

5. ( )

( )

6. ( )

( )

In exercises 7 12, find the equation of the circle with center at and radius . Write the
equation in both center radius and general forms.
7. ()
8. ()
9. ( )

10. ()
11. ( )
12. ()

In exercises 13 18, find the center and the radius of the circle.
13.

14.

15.

16.

17.

18.

In exercises 19 23, determine whether the graph is a circle, a point, or the empty set. It is a
circle; find its center and radius.
19.

20.

21.

22.

23.

In exercises 24 32, find the equation of the circle(s) satisfying the given conditions.
24. center at ( ) and passes through the point ().
25. center at () and passes through the point ( ).
26. having a diameter whose endpoints are () ().
27. having a diameter whose endpoints are ( ) ().
28. center is at ( ) the midpoint of the segment joining the center and one of the points
on the circle is ()
29. passing through ( ) with (

) being the point

of the way from the center

.
10

30. through the points () () ( )
31. through the points () () ()
32. radius is and passing through the points () ()
33. The circle

passes through the point (). Find the value of , the

radius, and the center of the circle.
34. For what values of and will

be the equation of circle having

center at ()? Find the radius of this circle.
35. Determine the value(s) of so that the graph of

(a) is a circle.
(b) is a point.
(c) is an empty set.



















11

Lesson 2.3 Lines
Two points determine a line. This familiar axiom from high school geometry tells us
that all we need in order to draw a line are two distinct points.

A line also can be determined by a point on the line and some measure of the
steepness of the line. This method can determine a line because, from the given point, the
measure of steepness can determine another point on the line. One way to get a measure of
the steepness of a line is to compare the vertical change in the line (the rise) to the horizontal
change (the run) while moving along the line from one fixed point to another.


Figure 2.7

Suppose that

) and

) are two different points on a line . Let be the

point with coordinates (

). See Figure 2.7. Then, going along from

to

, the value
changes from

to

, the value of changes from

to

by the amount

. Let

We show that the value of is not affected by the choice of points on . Let

) and

) be two other (different) points on .

the point with coordinates (

), and
compute

Since

, we have

|
|

|
|

Thus, the value of is the same number no matter what two points on are selected. This
constant is called the slope of the line.
12

DEFINITION 2.3.1
Consider a line that is not parallel to the . Let

) and

) be two
distinct points on the line. The slope of the line is given by

The slope of a line parallel to the (that is, a vertical line) is not defined.


Figure 2.8

From Definition 2.3.1, a line with a positive slope goes up (rises) from left to right, while
a line with negative slope goes down (falls) from left to right. A horizontal line has zero slope.
Figure 2.8 shows lines of positive, zero, negative, and undefined slope.

EXAMPLE 2.3.2
The slope of a line segment is

and one endpoint is (). If the other endpoint is on

the what are its coordinates?

EXAMPLE 2.3.3
Find the value(s) of so that the points ( ) ( ) ( ) are collinear.

By an equation of a line we mean an equation that is satisfied by those, and only those, points
on the line.

To find an equation of the non vertical line that passes through a certain point

) and has a certain slope , consider a point ( ) on the line,

. The slope
determined by and

must be the same as the prescribed slope ; that is

Clearing the denominator provides an equation in and , which is called the point slope
form of an equation of the line. The line through (

) of slope is described by the

equation

)
13

If two points on a line are known, it is possible to find an equation of the line. First, find
the slope using the slope formula, and then use the slope and one of the given points in the
point slope form.

EXAMPLE 2.3.4
Find an equation of the line passing through the points () and ( )

EXAMPLE 2.3.5
Find an equation of the line passing through the midpoint of the line segment joining
the points () and (), and whose slope is half the slope of the line through and .
(Express your answer in the form , where are integers with
.)

If, in the point slope form, we choose the particular point ( ) (that is, the point
where the line intersects the ) for the point (

), we have
( ) or .
The number , the coordinate of the point where the line intersects the , is the
of the line. Consequently, the equation is called the
slope intercept form of an equation of the line. This form is especially useful because
(1) it enables us to find the slope of a line from its equation, and
(2) it expresses the - coordinate of a point on the line explicitly in terms of its
coordinate.
Every equation of a non vertical line has a unique (one and only one) slope intercept form.

EXAMPLE 2.3.6
Find the slope of the line having the equation .

We similarly define the of a (non horizontal) line as the - coordinate
of the point where the line intersects the .

EXAMPLE 2.3.7
The - intercept of a line is three times its intercept. With the coordinate axes, the
line forms a triangle of area two in the first quadrant. Find an equation of the line in slope
intercept form.

EXAMPLE 2.3.8
Determine the value(s) of in the equation so that this line will form a
right triangle with the coordinate axes whose area is square units.

The horizontal line that intersects the - axis at the point ( ) ahs slope .
Therefore, from the slope intercept form, an equation of this line is . However, because
the slope of a vertical line is not defined, we cannot apply the point slope form to obtain its
equation. The vertical line that intersects the - axis at the point ( ) contains those and only
14

those points having the same coordinate. Thus, ( ) is any point on this vertical line if
and only if .

If a line is not vertical, then it has an equation of the form , which can be
written as . If a line is vertical, then it has an equation of the form , which
can also be written as . Each of the above equations is a special case of an equation
of the form , where are constants, and are not both
zero. It implies that every line has an equation of the form . The following
theorem tells us that the converse of this fact is also true.

THEOREM 2.3.9
The equation where are constants, and are not
both zero, is an equation of a line.

Proof: We consider two cases: and .
CASE 1: Suppose , then . The equation becomes , which
gives

,
an equation of a vertical line with - intercept

.
CASE 2: Suppose , then the equation can be written into

which is an equation of a line in slope intercept form.

Therefore, in either cases, the equation gives an equation of a line.

The equation given in Theorem 2.3.9 is the general form of an equation of a line.

We now discuss two applications of the concept of slope in geometry: parallel lines and
perpendicular lines.

In Euclidean geometry, we say that two lines are parallel if they never intersect. Two
distinct vertical lines are always parallel to each other. The following theorem tells us when two
distinct non vertical lines are parallel.

THEOREM 2.3.10
Let

be two distinct non vertical lines with slopes

, respectively.
Then

is parallel to

if and only if

.

Proof: Let the respective equations of

and

be

and

. Let

) and

). Refer to Figure 2.9.

15

Since

and

are non vertical, they intersect with vertical line . Let the line
intersect

at

) and

at

).

The two lines

are parallel if and only if

) (

)
or, simply

Thus,

are parallel if and only if

.



Figure 2.9

In Euclidean geometry, two lines are perpendicular if they meet at a right angle. A
vertical line and horizontal line are perpendicular to each other. The following theorem tells us
when two distinct non vertical lines are perpendicular.

THEOREM 2.3.11
Let

be two distinct non vertical lines with slopes

, respectively.
Then

is perpendicular to

if and only if

Figure 2.10
16

Proof: The two lines

must intersect; otherwise, they are parallel and

.
See Figure 2.10.

We can choose the coordinate axes so that

intersect at the origin . Then

has an equation of the form

, and

has

.

Since

are non vertical, they intersect with the vertical line . Let the
intersect

at

) and

at

).

The lines

are perpendicular if and only if

is right angled at That

is, by the Pythagorean Theorem,

are perpendicular if and only if

|

.
Applying the Distance Formula (Theorem 2.1.1), we get
|

( )

( )

And
|

( )

Therefore,

are perpendicular if and only if

) (

)
Or, simply,

.

Because

is equivalent to

and

,
Theorem 2.3.11 states that two non vertical lines are perpendicular if and only if the slope of
one of them is the negative reciprocal of the slope of the other.

EXAMPLE 2.3.12
Given the line having the equation , determine the general form of
an equation of the line through () and
(a) parallel to , and
(b) perpendicular to .



17

EXAMPLE 2.3.13
Find the point in the third quadrant so that the points ( ) () () and
are vertices of a parallelogram.

A tangent line to a circle is a line that intersects the circle at exactly one point, called the
point of tangency. The radius drawn to the point of tangency is perpendicular to the tangent
line. If a line is tangent to a circle, we sometimes say that the circle is tangent to the line.

EXAMPLE 2.3.14
Find the equations (in general form) of the tangent lines to the circle

at the points of the circle on the

EXAMPLE 2.3.15
Find the equation (in general form) of the circle tangent to the line at
() and whose center in on the .

Before we proceed to the succeeding examples, we need to recall some concepts and
results about circles from high school geometry.
1. A chord of a circle is a line segment joining any two points of the circle. Thus, a
diameter is an example of a chord.
2. A perpendicular bisector of a chord is the line perpendicular to the chord and passing
through the midpoint of the chord. The perpendicular bisector of a chord passes
through the center of the circle.
3. The line through the midpoint of a chord and the center of the circle is perpendicular
to the chord.
4. The line perpendicular to a chord and passing through the center bisects the chord.
5. Three non collinear points determine exactly one circle.

EXAMPLE 2.3.16
Find an equation of the circle containing the point () and tangent to the line
at ().

EXAMPLE 2.3.17
Write an equation of the circle (in general form) containing the points

()

() and

().









18

EXERCISES 2.3
In exercises 1 to 14, find the slope of the line passing through the given points.
1. () ( )
2. () ( )
3. () ()
4. () ()
5. () ( )
6. () ()
7. () ()
8. ( ) ( )
9. ( ) ( )
10.

) (

)
11. (

) (

)
12. (

) (

)
13. () ()
14. () ()

In exercises 15 to 53, find the equation(s) of the lines satisfying the given conditions.
15. slope is and the through the point ().
16. slope is

and the through the point ( ).

17. slope is

and the through the point (

).
18. slope is and through the point (

).
19. slope is and through the point ().
20. slope is and through the point (

).
21. slope is undefined and through the point ( ).
22. slope is undefined through the point (

).
23. passing through the points ( ) and ( ).
24. passing through the points () and ().
25. passing through the points (

) and (

).
26. passing through the points ( ) and ( ).
27. passing through the point () and parallel to the .
28. passing through the point () and parallel to the .
29. passing through the point () and perpendicular to the .
30. passing through the point () and perpendicular to the
31. passing through the point () and parallel to the line
19

32. passing through the point ( ) and parallel to the line .
33. passing through the point () and perpendicular to the line .
34. passing through the point () and perpendicular to the line
35. passing through the point (

) and perpendicular to the line containing ( ) and

( )
36. passing through the point (

) and perpendicular to the line containing ( ) and

( ).
37. passing through the point ( ) and parallel to the line containing () and ()
38. passing through the point ( ) and parallel to the line containing () and ()
39. perpendicular to and containing the midpoint of the segment joining ( ) and ().
40. perpendicular to and containing the midpoint of the segment joining () and ( )
41. perpendicular to the segment joining ( ) and (), and containing the point

of
the way from .
42. all points on the line are equidistant from () and ().
43. if is any point on the line, then the distance from to ( ) is equal to the distance
from to ().
44. having twice the and half the of the line .
45. having the same as and twice the slope of .
46. through the points of intersection of and

47. through the points of intersection of and

.
48. containing segment where the of the point is and the distance
from to () is
49. containing segment where the of the point is and the distance
from to () is .
50. tangent to the circle

at the point ().

51. tangent to the circle

at the point ().

52. tangent to the circle .
52. tangent to the circle

at the point ().

53. tangent to the circle

at the point ( ).



20

In exercises 54 to 68, find the equation(s) of the circle(s) satisfying the given conditions. Write
your answers in center radius form.
54. center at () and tangent to the line .
55. center at () and tangent to the line

.
56. center at () and tangent to the line .
57. center at () and tangent to the line .
58. passes through the points () and (), and whose center is on the line
59. passes through the points ( ) and () and whose center is on the line .
60. tangent to the and axes, and the center is units away from the origin and lies on
the 4
th
quadrant.
61. tangent to the and axes, and the center is units away from the origin and likes
on the 1
st
quadrant.
62. tangent to the line at () and passing through ().
63. tangent to the line at () and passing through ().
64. containing the point () and tangent to the line at the point ().
65. tangent to the line at the point (), and the center is on the line
.
66. tangent to the line at the point (), and the center is on the line
.
67. tangent to the line at the point () and also tangent to the line
at the point ( ).
68. tangent to the line at the point () and also tangent to the line
at the point ().










21

Review for Chapters 1 and 2
1. Solve the following
(a)

(b) | | | |
(c) || | |
2. Find an equation of the circle that passes through the points () and (), and has its
center on the line .
3. Find an equation of the line that contains a diameter of the circle

,
and which is parallel to the line .
4. Prove analytically (i. e. using coordinate geometry) that the diagonals of a rhombus and
perpendicular.
5. Let

and

be positive real numbers. Prove that

(

)(

)(

)(