Question

Difficulty: EasyEquations of Circles in the Coordinate Plane

The equation of a circle in the xyxy-plane is (x8)2+(y+1)2=81(x - 8)^2 + (y + 1)^2 = 81. What are the coordinates of the center of the circle?

  1. A
    (8,1)(-8, 1)
  2. B
    (8,1)(8, 1)
  3. (8,1)(8, -1)Answer
  4. D
    (8,1)(-8, -1)

Answer

The center of the circle is (8,1)(8, -1)
The standard form of the equation of a circle in the xyxy-plane is (xh)2+(yk)2=r2(x - h)^2 + (y - k)^2 = r^2, where the center is (h,k)(h, k). In the given equation (x8)2+(y+1)2=81(x - 8)^2 + (y + 1)^2 = 81, comparing the terms to the standard form gives h=8h = 8 and k=1k = -1. Thus, the center of the circle is (8,1)(8, -1).

Step-by-Step Solution

1
State the standard form of a circle's equation
The standard equation of a circle with center (h,k)(h, k) and radius rr is (xh)2+(yk)2=r2(x - h)^2 + (y - k)^2 = r^2.
This establishes the template to match the given equation against.
2
Rewrite the given equation to match the standard form exactly
The given equation (x8)2+(y+1)2=81(x - 8)^2 + (y + 1)^2 = 81 can be rewritten as (x8)2+(y(1))2=92(x - 8)^2 + (y - (-1))^2 = 9^2.
Rewriting helps clearly identify the signs of hh and kk since the standard form uses subtraction: (xh)(x - h) and (yk)(y - k).
3
Extract the center coordinates (h,k)(h, k)
h=8h = 8 and k=1k = -1, giving the coordinates (8,1)(8, -1).
By matching the rewritten equation to the standard form, we find the specific values of hh and kk that define the circle's center.

Key Concept

Identifying the center of a circle from its standard equation form
Estimated Time:45s
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