Coordinate Geometry

Questions
1. Find the equation of the straight line through the points ( 1, 4) and (3,  2) . Give your
answer in the form ax  by  c  0 .

2. Find the centre and radius of the circle with equation x 2  y 2  2 x  6 y  15  0 .

3.* The parametric equations of a curve are x  t 2  4, y  t 2  3t  5 . Find the coordinates of

the points where the straight line y  2 x  7 meets the curve.

4.* The parametric equations of a curve are x  2sin   3, y  4cos   5 . Use an appropriate
trigonometric identity to find the cartesian equation of the curve.

5. The coordinates of three points are A (2, 5), B (4, 7) and C (6, 1) .
(i) Show that AB is perpendicular to BC .
(ii) Explain why the mid-point of AC is the centre of the circle through A , B and C .
(iii) Find the equation of the circle through A , B and C .

6.* The parametric equations of a curve are x  t 2  1, y  t 4  2t 2  5 .

(i) Find a cartesian equation of the curve.
(ii) Explain why the curve exists only for x  1, and sketch the curve.

7. The point P has coordinates ( a, b) and the point Q has coordinates (8, 7) . The gradient
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of PQ is and the distance PQ is 3 5 . Find the possible values of a and b .
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8. A circle with centre at the origin has radius 2 5 . A straight line has equation y  2 x  k and
meets the circle at two distinct points. Find the possible values of k .

9. Alan is conducting an experiment involving the variables x and T . The measurements are
given in the following table.
x 5 6 7 8 9 10 11
T 65 80 101 120 125 167 188

Alan suspects that the variables are linked by an equation of the form T  kx 2  c . By plotting
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values of T against values of x 2 , comment fully on Alan’s suspicions and, if appropriate,
suggest values for the constants k and c .

10.* A point is moving on a screen and its position, referred to x and y axes at time t (where
t  0 ) is given by the parametric equations
x  t 2  12t  42, y  t 2  2t  6 .
(i) Find the value of x when y  30 and show that, at this instant, the point is moving
parallel to the y -axis.
(ii) Show that there is no instant when the point is moving parallel to the line y  x .

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Points O and A have coordinates (0, 0) and (6, 0) respectively.

(i) The point P ( x, y ) moves in the x  y plane so that its distance from O is twice its distance
from A . Find the equation of the path followed by P and determine what sort of curve this
equation represents.

(ii) More generally, investigate the situation if the distance of P from O is k times its distance
from A .

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Worked solutions
2  4 6 3
1. Gradient of line is  
3  1 4 2
Equation of line is y  4   2 ( x  1) or y  4   32 x  32
3

Multiplying both sides by 2 and rearranging to required form, equation is 3x  2 y  5  0

2. Equation is x 2  2 x  y 2  6 y  15  0
Completing the square twice, ( x  1) 2  1  ( y  3) 2  9  15  0
Simplifying, equation is ( x  1) 2  ( y  3) 2  25
Hence centre is (1, 3) and radius is 5

3. Substituting expressions for x and y into equation y  2 x  7 , curve and line meet where
t 2  3t  5  2(t 2  4)  7
Simplifying gives equation t 2  3t 10  0
Factorising and solving, (t  2)(t  5)  0 and so t  2 or t  5
Substituting in the parametric equations: when t  2, x  0 and y  7
when t  5, x  21 and y  35
Curve and line meet at the points (0,  7) and (21, 35)

4. Rearranging the parametric equations, sin   12 ( x  3) and cos  14 ( y  5)

Substituting into the identity sin 2   cos2   1 gives 1 ( x  3) 2
4
 16
1 ( y  5) 2  1

Multiplying both sides by 16 , cartesian equation is 4( x  3)  ( y  5) 2  16

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75 2 1 1  7 6
5. (i) Gradient of AB is   ; gradient of BC is   3
4  2 6 3 64 2
Product of gradients = 13  (3)  1 and so lines are perpendicular
(ii) Since angle ABC  90 , the angle in a semicircle property means that AC is diameter
of circle through B . Mid-point of the diameter AC is the centre of the circle
 2  6 5  1 
(iii) Mid-point M of AC is  ,    2, 3
 2 2 
Radius MA  (2  2)2  (5  3)2  20
Equation of circle is ( x  2) 2  ( y  3) 2  20

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6. (i) From the first equation, t 2  x 1
Substituting in the second equation, y  ( x  1) 2  2( x  1)  5
Simplifying, y  x 2  4 x  8
Cartesian equation is y  x 2  4 x  8 or, in completed square form, y  ( x  2) 2  4
(ii) For all values of the parameter, t 2  0 and so t 2  1  1 , i.e. x  1

From cartesian equation, curve has minimum point at (2, 4) but note that the sketch
does not involve the whole parabola, just the part for which x  1

1 7b 1
7. Gradient of PQ  , giving the equation  and so 2(7  b)  8  a
2 8a 2
Simplifying, a  2b  6
Distance PQ  3 5 , giving the equation (8  a) 2  (7  b) 2  9  5
Expanding and simplifying, a2 16a  b2 14b  68  0
From first equation, a  2b  6
Substituting in second equation, (2b  6) 2  16(2b  6)  b 2  14b  68  0
Simplifying, b2 14b  40  0 and, factorising, (b  10)(b  4)  0
Solving, b  10 or b  4 , giving a  14 or a  2
Possible values are a  14, b  10 and a  2, b  4

8. Equation of circle is x 2  y 2  20
Line meets circle where x 2  (2 x  k ) 2  20
Expanding and simplifying, 5x2  4kx  k 2  20  0
For two distinct roots, discriminant b2  4ac  0 , giving (4k ) 2  4  5  ( k 2  20)  0
Simplifying, k 2 100  0 and so (k  10)( k  10)  0
Possible values of k are those for which 10  k  10

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9. Forming table showing values of x 2 and T ,

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x2 11.2 14.7 18.5 22.6 27.0 31.6 36.5
T 65 80 101 120 125 167 188

If Alan is correct, plotting these points should show the points lying on a straight line (more or
less, allowing for experimental inaccuracies)

Checking the graph, the points (except for one) do lie close to a straight line
Ignoring the point (27.0, 125) with the assumption that there was an error made with this
reading
For T  kx 2  c , value of k is gradient of line in graph
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200  60
Line through (10, 60) and (38.5, 200) has gradient  4.912...
38.5  10
Substituting values gives c  10.877...
Ignoring the one apparently wrong reading, Alan’s suspicions are justified and T is given
approximately by T  4.9 x 2  11 , rounding the two constants to 2 significant figures
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 Putting y  30, t  2t  6  30
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10. (i)
Solving, t  6 (ignoring the root t  4 since t  0 )
When t  6, x  62  12  6  42  6
dy
To consider direction, need to consider
dx
dx dy dy 2t  2
Differentiating,  2t  12 and  2t  2 and therefore 
dt dt dx 2t  12
dy 10
When t  6 ,  , i.e. the gradient of path taken by point is ‘infinite’ and so the point
dx 0
is moving parallel to the y - axis at this instant
(ii) Gradient of line y  x is 1
dy 2t  2
If point is moving parallel to this line, gradient of curve is 1 , i.e.  1
dx 2t  12
Equation is 2t  2  2t 12 and there is no possible value of t satisfying this, i.e. at no
instant is the point travelling parallel to the line y  x

Extension

(i) OP  2  PA gives OP2  4  PA2

This leads to the equation x 2  y 2  4[( x  6)2  y 2 ]
Expanding and simplifying, x 2  16 x  y 2  48  0 and hence ( x  8)2  y 2  16
Equation represents a circle with centre (8, 0) and radius 4
(ii) Now OP2  k 2  PA2 leading to x 2  y 2  k 2 [( x  6)2  y 2 ]
12k 2 36k 2
Expanding, simplifying and dividing by ( k  1) leads to x  2
2 2
x y  2
2
0
k 1 k 1
6k 2 2 36k 2
Completing the square and simplifying, ( x  2 )  y2  2
k 1 (k  1) 2
6k 2 6k
Equation represents a circle with centre ( 2 , 0 ) and radius 2
k 1 k 1

Check that substituting k  2 agrees with your answers to part (a)

What happens if k  1 ?

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