In the -plane, the equation represents a circle. What is the diameter of this circle?
Answer: 12
Answer
The diameter of the circle is 12.
Dividing the given equation by 2 gives . Grouping the and terms and moving the constant to the right side gives . To complete the square, add and to both sides, yielding , which simplifies to . Since the standard equation of a circle is , the radius squared is 36, which means the radius is 6. The diameter is twice the radius, so .
Step-by-Step Solution
Key Concept
Converting a circle's equation from general form to standard form by completing the square to identify its geometric properties.