Chords of a Circle

🏆Practice the parts of a circle

A chord in a circle is a straight line that connects 2 2 any points that are on the circle.
• The chord passes inside the circle and not over it.
• The longest chord in the circle is the diameter
The radius is not a chord.

Chords in the circle

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Test yourself on the parts of a circle!

einstein

A point whose distance from the center of the circle is _______ than the radius, is outside the circle.

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Chords in a Circle

We are here to explain to you what a chord in a circle is in the easiest and most logical way so that you remember it naturally.
Ask yourself... where have you encountered chords in everyday life?
Know that there are strings on a guitar.
Let's remember what they are like:


We see that the strings pass over the circle in the center of the guitar and that each string connects two points on the circle.
Now, it will be easier for us to remember and naturally understand the properties of the string in the circle.
What is a string in a circle?

A chord in a circle is a straight line that connects any 2 points that are on top of the circle.
The chord passes inside the circle.

Let's show it in the figure:

Chords in the circle

In front of us is a circle.
If we take 2 2 points on the top part of the circle and pass a straight line between them that will pass inside the circle,
it will be called a chord.
Pay attention - the line must not pass through the center of the circle (diameter) and can pass between any of the two points that are on the circle.
Tip:
You can imagine the guitar's circle and remember what its strings are like.


Important Facts You Should Know

Is the diameter a chord?
Absolutely! The diameter is not just any chord, but it is the longest chord of the circle!
The diameter is a chord that passes through the center of the circle and, therefore, is the longest, connecting 2 2 points with the greatest distance in the circle.

The diameter is a chord that passes through the center of the circle and, therefore, is the longest

Since the green line is a straight line connecting 2 2 points on the circle, it is called a chord.


Is the radius a chord?
Absolutely not!
The definition of a chord is a straight line that passes between 2 2 points located on the circle.
The radius is the line that connects the center of the circle with a point on the circle and therefore is not a chord.

Wonderful!
Now you know everything you need to know about a chord and can recognize it even in your sleep.


Examples and exercises with solutions of chords in a circle

Exercise #1

Given the circle with the equation:

x28ax+y2+10ay=5a2 x^2-8ax+y^2+10ay=-5a^2


and its center at point O in the second quadrant,

a0 a\neq0

Use the completing the square method to find the center of the circle and its radius using

a a

Step-by-Step Solution

 Let's recall that the equation of a circle with its center at O(xo,yo) O(x_o,y_o) and its radius R R is:

(xxo)2+(yyo)2=R2 (x-x_o)^2+(y-y_o)^2=R^2 Now, let's now take a look at the equation for the given circle:

x28ax+y2+10ay=5a2 x^2-8ax+y^2+10ay=-5a^2 We will try rearrange this equation to match the circle equation, that is - we will ensure that on the left side there will be the sum of two squared binomial expressions, one for x and one for y.

We will do this using the "completing the square" method:

Let's recall the shortcut formula for squaring a binomial:

(c±d)2=c2±2cd+d2 (c\pm d)^2=c^2\pm2cd+d^2 We'll deal separately with the part of the equation related to x in the equation (underlined):

x28ax+y2+10ay=5a2 \underline{ x^2-8ax}+y^2+10ay=-5a^2

We'll isolate these two terms from the equation and deal with them separately.

We'll present these terms in a form similar to the form of the first two terms in the shortcut formula (we'll choose the subtraction form of the binomial squared formula since the term in the first power we are dealing with 8ax 8ax has a negative sign):

x28axc22cd+d2x22x4ac22cd+d2 \underline{ x^2-8ax} \textcolor{blue}{\leftrightarrow} \underline{ c^2-2cd+d^2 }\\ \downarrow\\ \underline{\textcolor{red}{x}^2\stackrel{\downarrow}{-2 }\cdot \textcolor{red}{x}\cdot \textcolor{green}{4a}} \textcolor{blue}{\leftrightarrow} \underline{ \textcolor{red}{c}^2\stackrel{\downarrow}{-2 }\textcolor{red}{c}\textcolor{green}{d}\hspace{2pt}\boxed{+\textcolor{green}{d}^2}} \\ Notice that compared to the shortcut formula (which is on the right side of the blue arrow in the previous calculation) we are actually making the comparison:

{xc4ad \begin{cases} x\textcolor{blue}{\leftrightarrow}c\\ 4a\textcolor{blue}{\leftrightarrow}d \end{cases} Therefore, if we want to get a squared binomial form from these two terms (underlined in the calculation), we will need to add the term(4</span><spanclass="katex">a)2 (4</span><span class="katex">a)^2 , but we don't want to change the value of the expression, and therefore - we will also subtract this term from the expression.

That is, we will add and subtract the term (or expression) we need to "complete" to the binomial squared form,

In the following calculation, the "trick" is highlighted (two lines under the term we added and subtracted from the expression),

Next - we'll put the expression in the squared binomial form the appropriate expression (highlighted with colors) and in the last stage we'll simplify the expression:

x22x4ax22x4a+(4a)2(4a)2x22x4a+(4a)216a2(x4a)216a2 x^2-2\cdot x\cdot 4a\\ x^2-2\cdot x\cdot4a\underline{\underline{+(4a)^2-(4a)^2}}\\ \textcolor{red}{x}^2-2\cdot \textcolor{red}{x}\cdot \textcolor{green}{4a}+(\textcolor{green}{4a})^2-16a^2\\ \downarrow\\ \boxed{ (\textcolor{red}{x}-\textcolor{green}{4a})^2-16a^2}\\ Let's summarize the steps we've taken so far for the expression with x.

We'll do this within the given equation:

x28ax+y2+10ay=5a2x22x4a+(4a)2(4a)2+y2+10ay=5a2(x4a)216a2+y2+10ay=5a2 x^2-8ax+y^2+10ay=-5a^2 \\ \textcolor{red}{x}^2-2\cdot \textcolor{red}{x}\cdot\textcolor{green}{4a}\underline{\underline{+\textcolor{green}{(4a)}^2-(4a)^2}}+y^2+10ay=-5a^2\\ \downarrow\\ (\textcolor{red}{x}-\textcolor{green}{4a})^2-16a^2+y^2+10ay=-5a^2\\ We'll continue and do the same thing for the expressions with y in the resulting equation:

(Now we'll choose the addition form of the squared binomial formula since the term in the first power we are dealing with 10ay 10ay has a positive sign)

(x4a)216a2+y2+10ay=5a2(x4a)216a2+y2+2y5a=5a2(x4a)216a2+y2+2y5a+(5a)2(5a)2=5a2(x4a)216a2+y2+2y5a+(5a)225a2=5a2(x4a)216a2+(y+5a)225a2=5a2(x4a)2+(y+5a)2=36a2 (x-4a)^2-16a^2+\underline{y^2+10ay}=-5a^2\\ \downarrow\\ (x-4a)^2-16a^2+\underline{y^2+2\cdot y \cdot 5a}=-5a^2\\ (x-4a)^2-16a^2+\underline{y^2+2\cdot y \cdot 5a\underline{\underline{+(5a)^2-(5a)^2}}}=-5a^2\\ \downarrow\\ (x-4a)^2-16a^2+\underline{\textcolor{red}{y}^2+2\cdot\textcolor{red}{ y}\cdot \textcolor{green}{5a}+\textcolor{green}{(5a)}^2-25a^2}=-5a^2\\ \downarrow\\ (x-4a)^2-16a^2+(\textcolor{red}{y}+\textcolor{green}{5a})^2-25a^2=-5a^2\\ \boxed{(x-4a)^2+(y+5a)^2=36a^2} In the last step, we move the free numbers to the second side and combine like terms.

Now that the given circle equation isin the form of the general circle equation mentioned earlier, we can easily extract both the center of the given circle and its radius:

(xxo)2+(yyo)2=R2(x4a)2+(y+5a)2=36a2(x4a)2+(y(5a))2=36a2 (x-\textcolor{purple}{x_o})^2+(y-\textcolor{orange}{y_o})^2=\underline{\underline{R^2}} \\ \updownarrow \\ (x-\textcolor{purple}{4a})^2+(y+\textcolor{orange}{5a})^2=\underline{\underline{36a^2}}\\ \downarrow\\ (x-\textcolor{purple}{4a})^2+(y\stackrel{\downarrow}{- }(-\textcolor{orange}{5a}))^2=\underline{\underline{36a^2}}\\ In the last step, we made sure to get the exact form of the general circle equation - that is, where only subtraction is performed within the squared expressions (emphasized with an arrow)

Therefore, we can conclude that the center of the circle is at:O(xo,yo)O(4a,5a) \boxed{O(x_o,y_o)\leftrightarrow O(4a,-5a)} and extract the radius of the circle by solving a simple equation:

R2=36a2/R=±6a R^2=36a^2\hspace{6pt}\text{/}\sqrt{\hspace{4pt}}\\ \rightarrow \boxed{R=\pm6a}

Remember that the radius of the circle, by its definition is the distance between any point on the diameter and the center of the circle. Since it is positive, we must disqualify one of the options we got for the radius.

To do this, we will use the remaining information we haven't used yet - which is that the center of the given circle O is in the second quadrant,

That is:

O(x_o,y_o)\leftrightarrow x_o<0,\hspace{4pt}y_o>0 (Or in words: the x-value of the circle's center is negative and the y-value of the circle's center is positive)

That is, it must be true that:

\begin{cases} x_o<0\rightarrow (x_o=4a)\rightarrow 4a<0\rightarrow\boxed{a<0}\\ y_o>0\rightarrow (y_o=-5a)\rightarrow -5a>0\rightarrow\boxed{a<0} \end{cases} We concluded that a<0 and since the radius of the circle is positive we conclude that necessarily:

R=6a \rightarrow \boxed{R=-6a} Let's summarize:

O(4a,5a),R=6a \boxed{O(4a,-5a), \hspace{4pt}R=-6a} Therefore, the correct answer is answer d. 

Answer

O(4a,5a),R=6a O(4a,-5a),\hspace{4pt}R=-6a

Exercise #2

In which of the circles is the segment drawn the radius?

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Answer

Exercise #3

In which of the circles is the point marked in the circle and not on the circumference?

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Answer

Exercise #4

How many times longer is the radius of the red circle than the radius of the blue circle?

220

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Answer

5

Exercise #5

How many times longer is the radius of the red circle, which has a diameter of 24, than the radius of the blue circle, which has a diameter of 12?

Video Solution

Answer

2

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