History - Spenser, Wednesday, October 10, 2007 at 1:33pm

Find the center and radius of x^2 + y^2 - x + 2y - 3 = 0

You are looking for the form

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

x^2 -x +y^2 + 2y - 3=0
so grouping by perfect squares...
(x^2 -x + 1/4) + (y^2+2y+1)= +3-1/4-1

you do the rest. If you need help, repost.

i don't understand....

To find the center and radius of the given equation, which represents a circle, you can use the standard form of the equation of a circle, given by (x - h)^2 + (y - k)^2 = r^2. Here, (h, k) represents the center of the circle, and r represents the radius.

Let's rearrange the given equation to match the standard form:
x^2 + y^2 - x + 2y - 3 = 0

Rearranging the equation by completing the square for both x and y, you get:
(x^2 - x) + (y^2 + 2y) - 3 = 0

To complete the square for x, add (1/2)^2 = 1/4 both sides:
(x^2 - x + 1/4) + (y^2 + 2y) - 3 = 1/4

Similarly, to complete the square for y, add (1)^2 = 1 both sides:
(x^2 - x + 1/4) + (y^2 + 2y + 1) - 3 - 1 = 1/4 + 1

Simplifying the equation:
(x - 1/2)^2 + (y + 1)^2 - 3 - 1 = 5/4

(x - 1/2)^2 + (y + 1)^2 = 5/4 + 4/4

(x - 1/2)^2 + (y + 1)^2 = 9/4

Comparing the rearranged equation with the standard form, we can see that the center of the circle is (1/2, -1), and the radius is the square root of 9/4, which is 3/2.

Therefore, the center of the circle is (1/2, -1), and the radius is 3/2.