Circle Equation Analyzer

From the general equation of a circle or its center and radius — get the center, radius, standard and general form, area and circumference, drawn to scale.

How to Find the Center and Radius of a Circle

Give the analyzer a circle in general form or as a center and radius, and it rebuilds every other form of the equation, with the working shown.

1

Group the x and y terms

A circle in general form looks like x² + y² + Dx + Ey + F = 0. The analyzer collects the x terms (x² + Dx) and the y terms (y² + Ey) and moves the constant F to the other side, ready for completing the square.

2

Complete the square

Adding (D/2)² and (E/2)² to both sides turns each group into a perfect square: (x + D/2)² + (y + E/2)² = D²/4 + E²/4 − F. Read off the center as (−D/2, −E/2) and the radius as the square root of the right-hand side.

3

Check it is a real circle, then measure it

If D²/4 + E²/4 − F is positive you have a real circle; if it is zero the equation describes a single point, and if it is negative there is no real graph at all. For a real circle the analyzer reports the area πr² and the circumference 2πr and draws it to scale on equal axes, so it looks round rather than stretched.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you convert a circle from general form to standard form?
Complete the square on x and on y. For x² + y² − 4x + 6y − 12 = 0, group to (x² − 4x) + (y² + 6y) = 12, add 4 and 9 to both sides, and you get (x − 2)² + (y + 3)² = 25. The center is (2, −3) and the radius is 5.
What is the standard form of a circle equation?
The standard form is (x − h)² + (y − k)² = r², where (h, k) is the center and r is the radius. It comes straight from the distance formula: every point on the circle is exactly r away from the center.
Why does my equation not give a circle?
The x² and y² terms must have the same coefficient (divide through if both are, say, 2), and there can be no xy term. Even then, if D²/4 + E²/4 − F is zero or negative, the equation has a single point or no real points, and the analyzer says so instead of inventing a radius.
How do you find the area and circumference from the equation?
Find the radius first, then the area is πr² and the circumference is 2πr. A circle with r = 5 has area 25π ≈ 78.54 and circumference 10π ≈ 31.42.