The equation of the pair of straight lines parallel to the y - axis an...
Problem: Find the equation of the pair of straight lines parallel to the y-axis and which are tangents to the circle x2 + y2 - 6x - 4y - 12 = 0.
Solution:
We know that the equation of a circle with center (a, b) and radius r is (x-a)2 + (y-b)2 = r2.
Here, the given equation is x2 + y2 -6x -4y -12 = 0.
We can rewrite this equation as (x-3)2 + (y-2)2 = 25.
Hence, the center of the circle is (3, 2) and the radius is 5.
Step 1: Find the slope of the tangent to the circle at any point.
To find the slope of the tangent at any point (x1, y1) on the circle, we differentiate the equation of the circle with respect to x as follows:
2(x-3) + 2(y-2) * dy/dx = 0
dy/dx = -(x-3)/(y-2)
Step 2: Find the equations of the tangents that are parallel to the y-axis.
Since the tangents are parallel to the y-axis, their slopes are undefined. This means that (y-2) = 0, or y = 2, for any point of tangency. Therefore, the points of tangency are (3+5, 2) and (3-5, 2), or (8, 2) and (-2, 2).
Step 3: Find the equations of the tangents.
The equations of the tangents passing through (8, 2) and (-2, 2) are:
x = 8 and x = -2
Hence, the equation of the pair of straight lines parallel to the y-axis and which are tangents to the given circle is x = 8 and x = -2, which can be rewritten as follows:
x2 - 6x - 16 = 0 and x2 - 4x - 21 = 0
Therefore, the correct option is (C).