Lesson 1.

Introduction to
Conic Sections and Circles
Memory Gem:
“Life is a circle of happiness, sadness, hard times, and good times.
If you are going through hard times have faith that good times are on the way”.
www.livelifehappy.com

MEET YOUR TARGETS

At the end of this lesson, you will be able to:

• Illustrate the different types of conic sections.

• Define a circle.
• Graph a circle given an equation in center-radius form

VENTURE
Geometric Figures or shapes are used in architectural designs. For this activity, identify the
following shapes as circle, parabola, ellipse, or hyperbola as shown in the pictures being used in
real-life. Write your answer on the space provided.

Does the activity ignite your interest to study more about geometric shapes particularly
different conic sections like your answers in the activity? Can you name other

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architectural designs not in the pictures that used the idea of geometrical shapes? Does
the shape matters on the durability, functionality and artistic designs?
Studying this module will help you appreciate nature and man’s creation that would
help daily life activities.

Slope of the Line

Given the line l containing two distinct points P1(x2,y2) where x1≠x2, then the
slope m of line I is computed as

m = y2 – y1
x2 – x1
Distance Formula
The distance between two points P1(x1,y1) and P2(x2,y2), on an xy plane is
given as
d = √(x2 – x1)2 + (y2 – y1)2

Midpoint Formula

x = x 2 + x1
2
y = y 2 + y1
2
Activity # 1. Decoding Message
Description: This activity will enable you to review slope, distance and midpoint
formula.

Direction: Decode the message by answering the clues

below. The answer to the clues in a two-digit number.
Find the tens-digit in the leftmost column and the ones-digit
In the top row then choose the corresponding letter of
Intersection.

Message ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___

1. The x-coordinate of the midpoint of the segment whose endpoints are (20, 18)
and (26, −20)
2. The distance between the points (2, −8) and (10, 7).
3.The slope of the equation 19𝑥 − 𝑦 = 9
4. The y-coordinate of the midpoint of the segment whose endpoints are (−4, 30) and
(24, 44)
5. The distance between the points (5, 8) and (10, −4)
6. The slope of the line 90𝑥 − 2𝑦 = 30
7. The sum of the coordinates of the midpoint of segment whose endpoints are (11, 10) and
(7, 30)

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 CHAT WITH THE EXPERT
CONIC SECTIONS

A conic section is the intersection of a plane and a cone. Observe the

shape of the slice that results. The angle at which the cone is sliced produces
three different types of conics sections.

There are three basic conics sections: parabolas, ellipses and

hyperbolas. Note that circles are a special type of an ellipse.
We introduce the conic sections (or conics), a particular class or curves
which often times appear in nature and which have applications in other fields.
One of the first shapes we learned, a circle, is a conic. When you throw a ball,
the trajectory it takes is a parabola. The orbit taken by each planet around the
sun is an ellipse. Properties of hyperbolas have been used in the design of
certain telescopes and navigation systems. We will discuss circles in this lesson,
leaving parabolas, ellipse, and hyperbolas for subsequent lessons.

➢ Circle – is a special case of ellipse in which the plane is perpendicular to the axis of the
cone.
➢ Ellipse – when the (tilted) plane intersects only one cone to form a bounded curve.
➢ Parabola – the plane is parallel to a generator line of the cone
➢ Hyperbola – the intersection is an unbounded curve and the plane is not parallel to a
generator line of the cone and the plane intersects both halves of the cone.

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 Conic Section Value of B2 – 4ac Eccentricity
Circle B2 – 4ac < 0 or A=C e=0
Parabola B2 – 4ac = 0 e= 1
Ellipse B2 – 4ac < 0, B ≠0 or A≠C 0 < e<1
Hyperbola B2 – 4ac > 0 e>1

CIRCLE
• Let there be collection of points equidistant from a fixed point.
• The fixed point (be at the origin) is called the center.
• The distance from the center to any point on the circle is the
radius of the circle, and a segment joining any two distinct points
on a circle is called the diameter.
• Hence, connecting these points is a circle.

Definition and Equations of a Circle

A circle may also be considered a special kind of ellipse (for the special case when the
tilted plane is horizontal). For our purposes, we will distinguish between these two conics.

See Figure 1.7, with the point C (3.1) shown. From the figure, the distance of A(-2, 1) from
C is AC = 5. By the distance formula, the distance of B (6,5) from C is
BC = √ ( 6 – 3)2 + ( 5 – 1 )2 = 5. There are other points P such that PC = 5. The collection of all
such points which are 5 units away from C, forms a circle.

Let C be a given point. The set of all points P having the same distance
from C is called a circle. The point C is called the center of the circle,
and the common distance is radius.

The term radius is both used to refer to a segment from the center C to a point P on the circle,
and the length of this segment.
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See Figure 1.8, where a circle is drawn. IT has center C (h,k) and radius f > 0. A point P(x,y) is
on the circle if and only if PC = r. For any such point then, its coordinates should satisfy the
following.
PC = r
√ (x – h)2 + (y – k )2 = r
(x – h)2 + (y – k )2 = r2
This is the standard equation of the circle with center C (h,k) and radius r. If the center is the
origin, then h = 0 and k = 0. The standard equation is then x2 + y2 = r2.

Example # 1. In each item, give the standard equation of

the circle satisfying the given conditions.

(1) center at the origin, radius 4

(2) center ( -4, 3), radius √7
(3) circle in Figure 1.7
(4) circle A in Figure 1.9
(5) circle B in Figure 1.9
(6) center (5, -6), tangent to the y-axis
(7) center (5, -6), tangent to the x – axis
(8) has a diameter with endpoints A(-1, 4) and B (4,2)

Solution:

(1) x2 + y2 = 16
(2) (x + 4)2 + (y – 3)2 = 7
(3) The center is (3,1) and the radius is 5, so the equation is (x – 3)2 + (y – 1)2 = 25
(4) By inspection, the center is (-2,-1) and the radius is 4. The equation is (x + 2)2 + (y + 1)2 = 16
(5) Similarly by inspection , we have (x - 3)2 + (y - 2)2 = 9.
(6) The center is 5 units away from the y –axis, so the radius is r = 5 (you can make a sketch to
see why). The equation is (x – 5)2 + (y + 6)2 = 25
(7) Similarly, since the center is 6 units away from x-axis, the equation is (x– 5)2 + (y + 6)2 = 36.
(8) The center C is the midpoint of A and B: C = -1+4 , 4+2 = (3/2, 3)
2 2
The radius is then r = AC = √ (-1 – 3/2) + (4 – 3) = √ /4
2 2 29

The circle has equation (x – 3/2)2 + (y – 3 )2 = 29/4

More Properties of Circles

After expanding, the standard equation

can be written as

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an equation of the circle in general form.

If the equation of a circle is given in the general form

We can determine the standard form by completing

the square in both variables.

Completing the square in an expression like x2 + 14x means determining the term to be added
that will produce a perfect polynomial square. Since the coefficient of x2 is already 1, we take half
the coefficient of x and square it, and we get 49. Indeed, x2 + 14x + 49 = (x + 7)2 is a perfect
square. To complete the square in, say, 3x2 + 18x, we factor the coefficient of x2 from the
expression: 3 (x2 + 6x), then add 9 inside. When completing a square in an equation, any extra
term introduced on one side should also be added to the other side.

Example #2. Identify the center and radius of the circle with the given equation in each item.
Sketch its graph, and indicate the center.
(1) x2 + y2 – 6x = 7

(2) x2 + y2 – 14x + 2y = -14

Solution: The first step is to rewrite each equation in standard form by completing the square in
x and in y. From the standard equation, we can determine the center and radius.

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In the standard equation (x – h)2 + (y –k)2 = r2, both the two squared term on the left side have
coefficient 1. This is the reason why in the preceding example, we divided by 16 at the last
equation.

Situational Problems Involving Circles

1. A radio tower services a 10 mile radius. You stop your car 9 miles east and 5 miles north of
the tower. Will you be able to receive radio waves from the tower?

Given: Solution:

Distance = r =10 miles

r2 = (10)(10) = 100
x = 9 miles east
y = 5 miles north

Answer: NO, you will not be able to receive radio waves from the tower because your
location is more than 10 miles away from the radio tower.

2. A rabbit will move no more than 10 miles away from its hole. At that time, you are taking a
walk about 5 miles east and 7 miles north of the rabbit hole. Is there any possibility of you
meeting the rabbit?

Given:
Distance = r = 10 miles
r2 = (10)(10) = 100
x = 5 miles
y = 7 miles
Solution:

Answer: YES, because your distance is not more than 10 miles away from the rabbit’s
hole.

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3. A street with two lanes, each 10 ft. wide, goes through a semicircle tunnel with radius 12 ft.
How high is the tunnel at the edge of each lane? Round off to 2 decimal places.

Solution:
We draw a coordinate system with origin at the middle of the highway, as shown. Because of
the given radius, the tunnel’s boundary is on the circle x2 +y2 = 122. Point P is the point on the
arc just above the edge of a lane, so its x – coordinate is 10. We need its y – coordinate. We
then solve 102 + y2 = 122 for y > 0, giving us y = 2 √ 11 ≈ 6.63 ft.

Answer: 6.63 ft. is the height of the tunnel

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