The differential equation of the family of circles passing the origin and having the center on the line is:
- A
- B
- C
- D
The differential equation of the family of circles passing the origin and having the center on the line is:
Correct answer:C
Standard Method
Given: A family of circles passes through the origin and has its center on the line .
Find: The differential equation of this family.
The general equation for a circle with the center on passing through the origin is:
where is the parameter.
Since the circle passes through the origin, substitute and :
So the family becomes
Expanding,
Hence,
Differentiating and simplifying yields:
Therefore, the correct option is C.
Elimination of Parameter
Let the center be . Then the circle is
Because it passes through the origin,
Substituting back,
Now expand:
Differentiate this relation with respect to treating as the parameter to be eliminated, and on simplification we obtain
Thus the required differential equation is the one in option C.
Assuming the center is or is incorrect because the center lies on . The correct center must be taken as .
Forgetting to use the condition that the circle passes through the origin leaves an extra parameter. Use the origin condition to obtain before differentiating.
Differentiating the family before eliminating the parameter can lead to unnecessary algebraic confusion. First express the family in a simplified parameter form, then differentiate and eliminate carefully.
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