Circle eqauation - can ne1 double check my work

AI Thread Summary
The discussion focuses on finding the center and radius of the circle given by the equation 16x^2 + 16y^2 + 8x + 32y + 1 = 0. After simplifying, the equation is transformed into the standard form, revealing the center at (-1/4, -1) and initially calculating the radius as 1. However, a participant points out that the radius should actually be 1/4, indicating a miscalculation. The error arises from incorrect balancing of the equation when simplifying, specifically in the addition of constants on both sides. Correcting this leads to the conclusion that the radius is indeed 1/4, highlighting the importance of careful algebraic manipulation.
Agent_J
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Find the center and radius of the circle
16x^2 + 16y^2 + 8x + 32y + 1 = 0

So first i simplified the equation by taking out the 16
so i got:

16 (x^2 + 1/2x + y^2 + 2y) = -1
16 (x^2 + 1/2x + 1/16) + 16 (y^2 + 2y + 1) = -1 + 1 + 1
16 (x + 1/4)^2 + 16 (y + 1)^2 = 1

Center = (-1/4, -1)
Radius = 1

Are my calculations correct? Do I need to take out the 16 in my equation?
 
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I believe you should write it in the form (x + 1/4)^2 + (y + 1)^2 = 1/16 = (1/4)^2. Then you can see that the radius is 1/4.
 
uh oh, then I must have done something wrong because the answer for the Radius should be just 1 :frown:
 
16 (x^2 + 1/2x + 1/16) + 16 (y^2 + 2y + 1) = -1 + 1 + 1

On the left hand side you added 16 on the right hand side you added 1.
If you add 16 to both sides it will work out.
 
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