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If = + is the distance from c 1 to c 2 we can normalize by =, =, = to simplify equation (1), resulting in the following system of equations: + =, + =; solve these to get two solutions (k = ±1) for the two external tangent lines: = = + = (+) Geometrically this corresponds to computing the angle formed by the tangent lines and the line of ...
The method hinges on the observation that the radius of a circle is always normal to the circle itself. With this in mind Descartes would construct a circle that was tangent to a given curve. He could then use the radius at the point of intersection to find the slope of a normal line, and from this one can easily find the slope of a tangent line.
The tangent line through a point P on the circle is perpendicular to the diameter passing through P. If P = (x 1, y 1) and the circle has centre (a, b) and radius r, then the tangent line is perpendicular to the line from (a, b) to (x 1, y 1), so it has the form (x 1 − a)x + (y 1 – b)y = c.
This leads to the definition of the slope of the tangent line to the graph as the limit of the difference quotients for the function f. This limit is the derivative of the function f at x = a, denoted f ′(a). Using derivatives, the equation of the tangent line can be stated as follows: = + ′ ().
By solving this equation, one can construct a fourth circle tangent to three given, mutually tangent circles. The theorem is named after René Descartes, who stated it in 1643. Frederick Soddy's 1936 poem The Kiss Precise summarizes the theorem in terms of the bends (signed inverse radii) of the four circles:
The zero level set F(t 0,(x,y)) = 0 gives the equation of the tangent line to the parabola at the point (t 0,t 0 2). ... In this picture there is an arc of a circle.
Similar considerations generate the second tangent circle, that meets the given circles at the points , (see diagram). All tangent circles to the given circles can be found by varying line . Positions of the centers Circles tangent to two circles
The tangent lines must be equal in length for any point on the radical axis: | | = | |. If P, T 1, T 2 lie on a common tangent, then P is the midpoint of ¯.. In Euclidean geometry, the radical axis of two non-concentric circles is the set of points whose power with respect to the circles are equal.