Is a line ax+by+c=0 tangent to a circle?

Get a line a form y=-ax/b-c/b, then substitute into a cirle equation (x-p)^2 +(y-s)^2=r^2. Get a quadratic and find whether a discriminant is equal to zero. If it is then the line is tangent to a circle. Otherwise, for d>0 the line cuts through two points on a circle, for d<0 the line has no common points with a circle.

Answered by Jakub O. Maths tutor

7355 Views

See similar Maths A Level tutors

Related Maths A Level answers

All answers ▸

A curve C has the following equation: x^3 + 3y - 4(x^3)*(y^3) a) Show that (1,1) lies on C b) Find dy/dx


How do you find the acute angle between two intersecting lines whos equations are given in vector form?


Given y=(1+x^3)^0.5, find dy/dx.


Express √75 in the form of n√3 , where n is an integer. Using this information, solve the following equation: x√48 = √75 + 3√3 (4 marks)


We're here to help

contact us iconContact usWhatsapp logoMessage us on Whatsapptelephone icon+44 (0) 203 773 6020
Facebook logoInstagram logoLinkedIn logo
Cookie Preferences