Question

Calculate the radius of the circle by completing the square of the equation x^2 + y^2 - 14x - 4y = 11

radius = ___

Answers

GPT-4o mini
To find the radius of the circle from the equation \( x^2 + y^2 - 14x - 4y = 11 \), we need to complete the square for both \( x \) and \( y \).

Starting with the equation:

\[
x^2 + y^2 - 14x - 4y = 11
\]

We'll rearrange the equation to group the \( x \) and \( y \) terms:

\[
(x^2 - 14x) + (y^2 - 4y) = 11
\]

Now, we'll complete the square for the \( x \) terms. The coefficient of \( x \) is -14. Half of -14 is -7, and squaring -7 gives us 49. Thus,

\[
x^2 - 14x \rightarrow (x - 7)^2 - 49
\]

Next, we do the same for the \( y \) terms. The coefficient of \( y \) is -4. Half of -4 is -2, and squaring -2 gives us 4. Therefore,

\[
y^2 - 4y \rightarrow (y - 2)^2 - 4
\]

Now substituting these completed squares back into the equation gives us:

\[
((x - 7)^2 - 49) + ((y - 2)^2 - 4) = 11
\]

Simplifying the left side, we get:

\[
(x - 7)^2 - 49 + (y - 2)^2 - 4 = 11
\]

Combining the constants:

\[
(x - 7)^2 + (y - 2)^2 - 53 = 11
\]

Adding 53 to both sides yields:

\[
(x - 7)^2 + (y - 2)^2 = 64
\]

Now, we recognize that this is the standard form of a circle's equation:

\[
(x - h)^2 + (y - k)^2 = r^2
\]

where \( (h, k) \) is the center and \( r \) is the radius. From this equation:

- The center \( (h, k) \) is \( (7, 2) \).
- The radius squared \( r^2 = 64 \).

To find the radius \( r \), we take the square root of 64:

\[
r = \sqrt{64} = 8
\]

Thus, the radius of the circle is:

\[
\text{radius} = 8
\]

So the final answer is:

\[
\text{radius} = 8
\]

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