A circle is centered at (-3, 2) and has a radius of 2. What is the equation of the circle?

1 Answer
Jul 27, 2016

#color(green)((x+3)^2+(y-2)^2=4)#

Explanation:

The general equation for a circle with center #(color(red)(a),color(blue)(b))# and radius #color(purple)(r)# is
#color(white)("XXX")(x-color(red)(a))^2+(y-color(blue)(b))^2=color(purple)(r)^2#

Substituting #(color(red)(-3),color(blue)(2))# for #color(red)(a),color(blue)(b))#
and #color(purple)(2)# for #color(purple)(r)#
gives
#color(white)("XXX")(x-color(red)(""(-3)))^2+(y-color(blue)(2))^2=color(purple)(2)^2#
or
#color(white)("XXX")color(green)((x+3)^2+(y-2)^2=4)#

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Although this is in "standard circle form" your instructor may prefer "standard polynomial form" which can be obtained by expanding the squared terms and simplifying:
#color(white)("XXX")x^2+y^2+6x-4y+9=0#