find all points having an x coordinate of 9, whose distance from the point (3,-2) is 10
All points which have x coordinate 9 are on the vertical
green line below:
we take a compass and open it up to a radius of 10 units.
We put the sharp point of the compass on the point (3,-2)
and we find that can swing two red arc to cut the green vertical
line in two points, like this:
Then we draw 10-unit long blue lines from (3,-2) to the
points where the arcs cut the green line:
Those two points look like they are (9,6) and (9,-10), but
looking and estimating is not good enough for mathematics.
We must calculate them:
Let's draw a black horizontal line segment from (3,-2) over to the
green vertical line:
That line segment is 6 units long because it extends horizontally
from the point (3,-2) over to (9,-2) and that is 6 units.
If we look just at the top half, we have a right triangle, with
hypotenuse 10 units and horizontal leg 6 units, like this. Call the
length of the green side of the right triangle h,
By the Pythagorean theorem
So the upper vertex of that right triangle
is 8 units above (9,-2) so it must be (9,6),
just as we guessed just by looking.
Putting back the lower right triangle, which is congruent to
the upper one:
So the lower vertex of that lower right triangle
is 8 units below (9,-2) so it must be (9,-10),
just as we guessed just by looking.
Edwin