Learning Resources

Focus G: Tangent Properties in a Coordinate System

Step A

Make sure you open your compasses to a distance equal to 13 squares on the grid paper you are using.

Place the tip of the compasses at the origin (0 , 0) and draw the circle. One point it should pass through is the point (13 , 0).

If you were to draw a right triangle by dropping a perpendicular from the point
(12 , 5) to the x-axis, you would see that its hypotenuse is 13 (using the Pythagorean Theorem).