equation of a circle given the tangents

**ninobrn99** · May 1st 2009, 01:16 PM

Can someone please explain the steps to solve this problem? I'm taking the ACT on Thursday and am trying to teach myself Trig.

A circle in the std. (x,y) coordinate plane is tangent to the x-axis at 5 and tangent to the y-axis at 5. What is the equation of the circle?

**skeeter** · May 1st 2009, 02:17 PM

Originally Posted by ninobrn99

Can someone please explain the steps to solve this problem? I'm taking the ACT on Thursday and am trying to teach myself Trig.

A circle in the std. (x,y) coordinate plane is tangent to the x-axis at 5 and tangent to the y-axis at 5. What is the equation of the circle?

standard equation for a circle ...

$(x - h)^2 + (y - k)^2 = r^2$

center is at coordinates $(h,k)$ and has radius $r$

for your circle ...

center is at the point $(5,5)$ , with radius $5$

$(x-5)^2 + (y-5)^2 = 5^2$

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