- #1
Dumbledore211
- 111
- 1
Homework Statement
Find the equation of the tangent drawn from the point(-5,4) to the circle x^2+y^2-2x-4y+1=0
Homework Equations
y-y1=m(x-x1)
x^2+y^2+2gx+2fy+c=0
The Attempt at a Solution
The equation of the tangent using the point is as follows y-4=m(x+5). Now, if I substitute the value of y in the given equation of the circle the equation gets messy as there will be two variables m and x in the quadratic equation. Is there any elegant way to solve the slope of the tangent line without having to go through the trouble of substituting the value of y into the given equation of the circle..