STUDY OF CIRCLES

INTRODUCTION

A circle is a 2-dimensional shape

made by drawing a curve that is
always the same distance from a
fixed point called the centre. C
All points on the curve are
equidistant (same distance) from
the centre point.

There is a difference between a circle and a disc. A circle is a line,

and so, for example, has no area. A disc however is a round
portion of a plane which has a circular outline. If you draw a circle
on paper and cut it out, the round piece is a disc.
The radius is the distance from the center to any point on the
circle. It is half the diameter.

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 STUDY OF CIRCLES

INTRODUCTION

A sector is better thought of as

slice of cake. It is made of two radii.
A minor sector is shown in blue
and a major sector is shown in red.

An arc is a section of the

circumference, any continuous part
of a circle.
A minor arc is shown in blue and a
major arc is shown in red.

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 STUDY OF CIRCLES

INTRODUCTION

A chord is a line segment joining

any two points on the circle.
The diameter of a circle is any
chord passing through its centre
and is the longest chord on a circle.

An segment is a slice of a circle of

the circumference that you get
when you cut it with a chord.
A tangent to a circle is any line
which touches the circle in exactly
one point. Tangent
Point of contact
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 STUDY OF CIRCLES

ARCS AND SECTORS

A circle has a radius r of 4cm. The

sector has an angle of 60 . Find 60
the area of the minor sector and
the length of the minor arc.

Since the circle is made up of 360 , the sector takes up 60 out of

the 360 .
60
The area of sector is a fraction of 360 of the area of the circle.
60
The length of arc is a fraction of 360 of the circumference of the
circle.
2
The area of this sector is therefore r6 .
The length of the corresponding arc is 2r 6 = 3
r

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 STUDY OF CIRCLES

PRACTICE
Find the area of each sector and the arc length
a) b) c)
r = 4cm r = 54mm
280 72
200
r = 5cm

d) e) f)
r = 22cm
r = 30mm
135 84
50 r = 18mm

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 STUDY OF CIRCLES

PRACTICE
Find the missing values (i.e. either radius, arc length, sector area
or angle)
a) l = 20cm b) c)
l = 32cm

A = 120cm2 65
35 150

d) e) l = 13cm f)

300

135

A = 50cm2 r = 7.5cm
r = 25cm

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 STUDY OF CIRCLES

SEGMENTS

Here is a segment of a circle of

radius 5cm. Find the area taken up 5cm
by this segment.
120
The area of this segment is the
area of the sector A1 with the area
of the triangle A2 taken away.
The area of the sector A1 is
120 2
A1 = r = 26.18cm2
360
For the area of the triangle A2 we use the sine rule
1
A2 = r2 sin 120 = 0.5 25 sin 120 = 10.83cm2
2
The area of the segment is therefore
A = 26.18 10.83 = 15.4cm2
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 STUDY OF CIRCLES

PRACTICE
Find the area of the following segments
a) 8cm b) c) d)
8cm
52 10cm
5cm 10cm
125 13cm

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 STUDY OF CIRCLES

CIRCLE THEOREMS
The angle in a semi-circle
Let P be any point on the circle of P
diameter [AB] and centre O and
consider the triangle ABP .
We can see that triangles AOP and
A B
O
BOP are isosceles.
Therefore,
APbO = and B PbO =
Thus, APbB = + and in the triangle ABP we have
2( + ) = 180
+ = 90
APbB = 90
Therefore, the angle in a semi-circle is a right angle

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 STUDY OF CIRCLES

CIRCLE THEOREMS
The angle at the centre
C
Let us assume 3 points A, B and C
on a circle of centre O and P a point

diametrically opposed to C.
O
Triangles ACO and BCO are
isosceles since OC = OA = OB (i.e. 2
2 B
radii of the circle).
A
Thus ACO b = C AO b = . So
P
b + 2 = 180
AOC b + 2 = 180
B OC
b
AOC b
= 180 2 and B OC = 180 2
b = 180 AOC
AOP b = 2 andB OPb = 180 B OCb = 2
b = + and AOB
Since ACB b = AOP b + B OP
b , then
b = 2 + 2 = 2( + ) = 2ACB
AOB b
The angle at the centre is twice the angle on the circumference
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 STUDY OF CIRCLES

CIRCLE THEOREMS
Angles subtended on the same arc
Let us assume 4 points A, B, C and
D on a circle of centre O. If we D
C
denote the angle at the centre
b = , we know that angles on
AOB 2
2
the circumference are half of that O
angle.
Therefore, B
A
b = ADB
b =
ACB
2
Angles subtended on the same arc are equal.

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 STUDY OF CIRCLES

CIRCLE THEOREMS
Angle with a tangent
Let us assume 2 points A and Bon a
circle of centre O. The triangle AOB
is isosceles since OA = OB and O
hence
B
b b
B AO = ABO = A
b then we have
If we denote the angle at the centre AOB,
2 + = 180
180
=
2
If we bring B closer to A, then gets closer to 0 and gets
closer to 90 .
When B is at A, then the chord AB becomes the tangent, = 0
and = 90
A tangent to the circle meets the radius at right angles
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 STUDY OF CIRCLES

CIRCLE THEOREMS
Tangents from an external point
Let us examine 2 tangents to circle of
centre O at any points A and B from
an external point P . A
Since tangents meet radii OA and
OB and right angles, then triangles
OAP and OBP are rectangles. O B
The hypotenuse of triangles OAP
and OBP is OP and OA = OB, B
therefore we must have

AP = BP

Tangents from an external point are equal in length.

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 STUDY OF CIRCLES

CIRCLE THEOREMS
Opposite angles in cyclic quadrilateral
D
Let us assume 4 points A, B, C and
D on a circle of centre O and
consider the quadrilateral ABCD. 2
If we denote angles at the C
circumference A 2
ABCb = and ADC b = , then
angles at the centre are B
b = 2 and the reflex AOC
AOC b = 2
Therefore,
2 + 2 = 360
2( + ) = 360
Hence,
+ = 180
Opposite angles in cyclic quadrilateral add up to 180 or are
supplementary
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 STUDY OF CIRCLES

PRACTICE
A circle has diameter XY of length 13cm. Z is a point on the circle
such that XZ is 5 cm. Find the length Y Z.
A tangent of length 10cm is drawn to a circle with radius 7cm. How
far is the centre of the circle from the end point of the tangent?
Two circles have a common tangent A B
with points of contact at A and B.
The radii are 4cm and 2 cm
respectively. Find the distance
between the centres given that AB is
7cm.
T
AT is a tangent to a circle with
centre O. The circle has radius 5cm
and AB = 7cm. Find the length of A B O
the tangent.
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 STUDY OF CIRCLES

PRACTICE

Any two circles which do not

intersect have two common external
tangents as illustrated. The larger
circle has radius b and the smaller
one has radius a. The circles are 2a
units apart. Show that
p each common
tangent has length 8a(a + b) units.

A chord AB of length 2cm is drawn D C

in a circle of radius 3cm. A diameter
BC is constructed, and the tangent
from C is drawn. The chord AB is
extended to meet the tangent at D. A
Find the length of AD. B

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 STUDY OF CIRCLES

PRACTICE

Find the radius of the circle which

touches the three sides of the
triangle as shown.

A circle is inscribed in a right angled

triangle. The radius of the circle is
3cm, and BC has length 8cm. Find
the perimeter of the triangle ABC.

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