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Coordinate Geometry

The coordinate geometry is about representing and calculating the shapes on a coordinate
plane. Point ( in pair form) and cartesian plane are the basic concept for coordinate
geometry.

A cartesian plane is a flat surface which formed by x-axis and y-axis. A point is indicated
by its position along the x and y-axes. The application of a point on the plane gives a
clear way to describe exactly the location of an object.
y

y-axis
3

2 Coordinate
(1,1) point
1
x x
-3 -2 -1 1 2 3
-1 x
Coordinate /
x-axis
Cartesian plane -2

Distance Between Two Points

Two points given  x1 , y1  and  x2 , y2  , to get the distance of these two points

 x2 , y 2 

 x1  x2    y1  y2 
2 2
  y1  y2  Distance =



 x2  x1    y2  y1 
2 2
Or =
      
 x1  x2 

Example:

Find the distance between the points of  3,5  and  11,11 .

Solution:

 3  11   5  11
2 2
Distance 
 10

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Division of a Line Segment

A line can sperated into 2 or more parts. If a line is divided into 2 parts, it might be
a. in the middle,
b. in the ratio.

In the Middle

A line is divided into two similar length. Mean that the ratio is 1:1 .

x1  1  x2  1 y1  1  y2  1
X Y
11 1 1
1 ,
1 x x y  y2
 1 2  1
 x2 , y2  2 2
(X,Y) Sum of the
 x1 , y1  ratios

Midpoint = ( X, Y )

Remark: To find X, refer to the blue line. To find Y, refer to the purple line. It’s a cross
multiplication of x and y with the ratio.

In the Ratio

If a line divided into the ratio, the theory is the same as the theory of finding midpoint.
The ratio is no more 1:1 , so let it be m : n

n
x1  n   x2  m  y1  n   y2  m 
m X , Y
mn mn
(X,Y)  x2 , y2 
 x1 , y1  Point = ( X, Y )

Remark: To find X, refer to the blue line. To find Y, refer to the purple line. It’s a cross
multiplication of x and y with the ratio.

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Example:

Given A  2,5  and B  8,10  . Find

C cuts in the between of line AB
a. the midpoint
b. the point C internally divides the line segment in the ratio 1: 2
c. the point C externally divides the line segment in the ration 3 : 2 .

Solution: C is the point that extended from line AB

 2  8   5  10  
a. Midpoint   , 
 2   2  
 10   15  
   ,   
 2   2  
 15 
  5, 
 2

b.
C cuts in the between of line AB
 2  2   8  1   5  2   10  1 
C , 
 2 1   2 1 
2 B (8,10)
12 20 
1
C  , 
A (2,5)
3 3
 20 
  4, 
 3 

c.
C is the point that extended from line AB
2  2   x  1 5  2   y  1
8 ,  10
2
2 1 2 1
C(x, y)
4 x 10  y
1
B (8,10) 8 ,  10
A (2,5)
3 3
x  20 , y  20

 C   20, 20 

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Area of Polygons

A polygon can be formed for at least three or more poinst are given.

To find the area of the polygon with the provided points. Example: three points A  x1 , y1  ,
B  x2 , y2  , C  x3 , y3  are provided. Then the area of  ABC

1 x1 x2 x3 x1
Area  ABC 
2 y1 y2 y3 y1
1 x1 x2 x3 x1 x1 x2 x3 x1
       
2 y1 y2 y3 y1 y1 y2 y3 y1
1
  x1 y2  x2 y3  x3 y1    x2 y1  x3 y2  x1 y3 
2

If three points are given, make sure four data is in the modulus. The last one is repeated
from the first. Any of these three points can be started first but make sure it ends with the
first point.

Why modulus is needed?

1 If the vertices are in the clockwise order, the area

of the triangle will be in negative value.
2
Area can never be in negative value.
3

If the vertices are in the anticlockwise order, the

3 area of the triangle will be in positive value.

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Since negative value will obtained for clockwise order’s calculation, so modulus is need
in order to get an always positive area.

Area of a polygon is zero if the points are parallel.

Example:

a. Calculate the area of  1, 2  ,  4,3 and  3, 7  .

b. Find the value of p if the area of  1, 2  ,  3, p  and  4,5  is 10

Solution:
a.
1 1 4 3 1
Area 
2 2 3 7 2
1 1 4 3 1 1 1 4 3 1
       
2 2 3 7 2 2 2 3 7 2
1
  3  28  6    8  9  7 
2
1
 37  24
2
13

2

b.
1 1 3 41
A  10
2 2 p 5 2
1 3 41
 20
2 p 5 2
 p  15  8   6  4 p  5  20
 p  23   11  4 p   20
12  3 p  20
12  3 p  20
8
p
3

Equations of Straight Lines

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The equation of a straight line can be expressed in three forms:

1. general form
ax  by  c  0
2. gradient form
y  mx  c

Gradient y-intercept

3. intercept form
x y
 1
a b

x-intercept y-intercept

 To form an equation in gradient form, m and c are required.

changes of y
 
x2 , y 2 Gradient , m 
changes of x
 y
 

 1 2y  y  x

x1 , y1  
  y1  y2 

      
 x1  x2 
 x1  x2 
or
y y 
 2 1
 x2  x1 
To find y-interept,
if the straight line does not cut the y-axis, let x  0 to find y-intercept.
If the straight line cuts y-axis, then the number is the y-intercept.

 Properties of gradient:
Positive gradient

Negative gradient

Parallel to x-axis, m = 0
Parallel to y-axis is undefined.

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 To form an equation in intercept form, a and b are required.

y-intercept
 0,b 
Equation:
x y
 1
a b

 a, 0 
x-intercept

Equation of a straight line can be formed in three ways.

1.  y  y1   m  x  x1   For (1), a point and gradient are given.

 For (2), 2 points are given without gradient.
 y  y1    y1  y2   Remark: (2) – a gradient can be found with the given two points.
2. 
 x  x1   x1  x2  
Then simply choose one of the points to form equation in (1)
x y
3.  1 X and y-intercept are given in the question.
a b

Example:

a. Given the points P  3, 4  and Q  5, 6  . Find the gradient of PQ.

b. A  1, p  , B  3, 4  and C  5, 6  are collinear. Find the value of p.

Example:
Solution:

Given gradient and point y A are 3 and  1, 2  . Form the equation of the line
a. gradient , m  b. mAB  mBC  mAC
a. in general form x b. in gradient form
c. in intercept form 4  6 4 p 46
 
3  5 3 1 3  5
Solution:
2 4  p  1 2 

m  3 ,  1, 2  2 p2
y  mx c1
y  3 x  c , given x  1, y  2
2  3  1  c
c  1
 y  3x  1

a. 3 x  y  1  0
b. y  3x  1
y x http://ladybirdnotes.blogspot.com
c.  1  1  1
3 
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Parallel Lines

Two parallel lines is mean that the lines have same gradient. Let equations of two differ
lines be y  m1 x  c1 and y  m2 x  c2 . If these two lines are parallel, it means that
m1  m2

m1 m2
Example: m1  m2

a. Given the points P  1,3 , Q  3,5  and R  7,9  . Determine if PQ is parallel to QR .

b. Given the points A  3, 4  , B  5, 6  and C  3, 6  , D  2,5  . Show that AB is Perpendicular
Perpendicular Lines
to CD.
Perpendicular Lines are two lines that intersect each other and form a 900. In this case, the
Solution:
product of the gradient of these two lines is -1.

53 95
a. m pq  m1 mqr 
3 1 7 m
3 m  1
1 2
m pq 1 mqr  1 Negative
1 reciprocal
Since m pq  mqr therefore PQ is parallel to QR. m1  
m2 m2
64 65
b. mAB  mCD 
53 3 2
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Since mAB  mCD  1 therefore AB and CD are perpendicular to each other.
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Equation of a Locus

A moving point will form a locus that can be represented by an equation. A locus is a
collection of points under a satisfy given conditions.
The locus of points a fixed point is a circle.
The locus of a point equidistant from two fixed points is a straight line that
perpendicularly bisects the line joining them.
The locus of points a fixed distance from a line is two parallel lines running either
side.

Example:

Find the equation of the locus of a moving point P such that its distance from the point
A  3, 4  is 3units.

Solution:
Let P  x, y  . Distance of AP is 3.

 3  x   4  y
2 2
Distance 
32   9  6 x  x 2    16  8 y  y 2 
9  x 2  y 2  6 x  8 y  25
x 2  y 2  6 x  8 y  16  0

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