Circles

The SAT loves testing copious amounts of different concepts in relation to circles. Don’t worry though, we will
review them all here.

1) Angles

 A Circle Contains 360 OR 2𝜋 radians

 To convert from degree to radians, just use the following proportion:
𝑑𝑒𝑔𝑟𝑒𝑒 𝑎𝑛𝑔𝑙𝑒 𝑟𝑎𝑑𝑖𝑎𝑛 𝑎𝑛𝑔𝑙𝑒
=
360° 2𝜋

Convert the following:

𝜋 2𝜋
120° 𝑡𝑜 𝑟𝑎𝑑𝑖𝑎𝑛𝑠 𝑟𝑎𝑑𝑖𝑎𝑛𝑠 𝑡𝑜 𝑑𝑒𝑔𝑟𝑒𝑒𝑠 𝑟𝑎𝑑𝑖𝑎𝑛𝑠 𝑡𝑜 𝑑𝑒𝑔𝑟𝑒𝑒𝑠
3 7

It doesn’t hurt if you know the unit circle, although it’s not required.
2) Arcs

 The SAT will ask you to find either the length or area of an arc. When working on arc problems, just plug
in the following formulas (where r is the radius and x is the central angles of the circle).

𝑥 𝑥
𝐴𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑠𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑜𝑟 = 𝜋𝑟 2 𝑜𝑟 𝜋𝑟 2
360 2𝜋
𝑥 𝑥
𝐿𝑒𝑛𝑔𝑡ℎ𝑠𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑜𝑟 = 360 2𝜋𝑟 or 2𝜋 2𝜋𝑟

C
xo
A O

Note: Figure not drawn to scale In a circle with center O, central angle BOC has
7𝜋
a measure of radians. The length of the sector
The figure above shows a circle with center O and diameter 6
formed by central angle BOC is what fraction of
AC , if OB = 4 and the area of arc BC is 2𝜋, then x = the circumference of the circle?
(A) 30
(B) 45
(C) 120
(D) 135
 3) Additional topics

 A diameter of a circle forms a 180 angle.

 A tangent line is a line that touches a circle at exactly one point. Any radius drawn from that tangent point
forms a 90 angle.

4) The equation of a circle

 The equation of a circle centered at (0,0) with radius r

o 𝒙𝟐 + 𝒚 𝟐 = 𝒓 𝟐
 The equation of a circle centered at (h,k) with radius r
o (𝒙 − 𝒉)𝟐 + (𝒚 − 𝒌)𝟐 = 𝒓𝟐

In order to solve some problems that require the use the equation of a circle, you will need to know how to complete
the square. Completing the square is required because the equation of a circle contains perfect squares. If the
equation that you are given does not contain perfect squares, you will need to make them yourself. Lets practice.

𝑥 2 + 𝑦 2 + 2𝑥 + 6𝑦 = 15 𝑥 2 + 𝑦 2 − 4𝑥 − 12𝑦 − 9 = 0

The equation of a circle is shown above. What is The equation of a circle is shown above. What is
the center of the circle? the radius of the circle?

(A) (1,3) (A) 6

(B) (1,9) (B) 7
(C) (-1,-3) (C) 36
(D) (-1,-9) (D) 49

Which of the following is the equation of a circle

with center (3,5) and a radius with the endpoint
(0,2)?

(A) (𝑥 + 3)2 + (𝑦 + 5)2 =9

(B) (𝑥 − 3)2 + (𝑦 − 5)2 =9
(C) (𝑥 + 3)2 + (𝑦 + 5)2 = 18
(D) (𝑥 − 3)2 + (𝑦 − 5)2 = 18