Given coordinate of the center and radius > 1 of a circle and the equation of a line. The task is to check if the given line collides with the circle or not. There are three possibilities :
- Line intersects the circle.
- Line touches the circle.
- Line is outside the circle

Note: General equation of a line is a*x + b*y + c = 0, so only constant a, b, c are given in the input.
Examples :
Input : radius = 5, center = (0, 0),
a = 1, b = -1, c = 0.
Output : Intersect
Input : radius = 5, center = (0, 0),
a = 5, b = 0, c = 0.
Output : Intersect
Input : radius = 5, center = (0, 0),
a = 1, b = 1, c = -16.
Output : Outside
The idea is to compare the perpendicular distance between center of circle and line with the radius of the circle.
Algorithm:
1. Find the perpendicular (say p) between center of circle and given line.
2. Compare this distance p with radius r.
......a) If p > r, then line lie outside the circle.
......b) If p = r, then line touches the circle.
......c) If p < r, then line intersect the circle.
How to find the perpendicular distance?
Distance of a line from a point can be computed using below formula:
// CPP program to check if a line touches or
// intersects or outside a circle.
#include <bits/stdc++.h>
using namespace std;
void checkCollision(int a, int b, int c,
int x, int y, int radius)
{
// Finding the distance of line from center.
int dist = (abs(a * x + b * y + c)) /
sqrt(a * a + b * b);
// Checking if the distance is less than,
// greater than or equal to radius.
if (radius == dist)
cout << "Touch" << endl;
else if (radius > dist)
cout << "Intersect" << endl;
else
cout << "Outside" << endl;
}
// Driven Program
int main()
{
int radius = 5;
int x = 0, y = 0;
int a = 3, b = 4, c = 25;
checkCollision(a, b, c, x, y, radius);
return 0;
}
// Java program to check if a line touches or
// intersects or outside a circle.
import java.io.*;
class GFG {
static void checkCollision(int a, int b, int c,
int x, int y, int radius)
{
// Finding the distance of line from center.
double dist = (Math.abs(a * x + b * y + c)) /
Math.sqrt(a * a + b * b);
// Checking if the distance is less than,
// greater than or equal to radius.
if (radius == dist)
System.out.println ( "Touch" );
else if (radius > dist)
System.out.println( "Intersect") ;
else
System.out.println( "Outside") ;
}
// Driven Program
public static void main (String[] args)
{
int radius = 5;
int x = 0, y = 0;
int a = 3, b = 4, c = 25;
checkCollision(a, b, c, x, y, radius);
}
}
//
# python program to check if a line
# touches or intersects or outside
# a circle.
import math
def checkCollision(a, b, c, x, y, radius):
# Finding the distance of line
# from center.
dist = ((abs(a * x + b * y + c)) /
math.sqrt(a * a + b * b))
# Checking if the distance is less
# than, greater than or equal to radius.
if (radius == dist):
print("Touch")
elif (radius > dist):
print("Intersect")
else:
print("Outside")
# Driven Program
radius = 5
x = 0
y = 0
a = 3
b = 4
c = 25
checkCollision(a, b, c, x, y, radius)
# This code is contributed by Sam007
// C# program to check if a line touches or
// intersects or outside a circle.
using System;
class GFG {
static void checkCollision(int a, int b, int c,
int x, int y, int radius)
{
// Finding the distance of line from center.
double dist = (Math.Abs(a * x + b * y + c)) /
Math.Sqrt(a * a + b * b);
// Checking if the distance is less than,
// greater than or equal to radius.
if (radius == dist)
Console.WriteLine ("Touch");
else if (radius > dist)
Console.WriteLine("Intersect");
else
Console.WriteLine("Outside");
}
// Driven Program
public static void Main ()
{
int radius = 5;
int x = 0, y = 0;
int a = 3, b = 4, c = 25;
checkCollision(a, b, c, x, y, radius);
}
}
// This article is contributed by vt_m.
<script>
// JavaScript program to check if a line touches or
// intersects or outside a circle.
function checkCollision(a, b, c, x, y, radius)
{
// Finding the distance of line from center.
let dist = (Math.abs(a * x + b * y + c)) /
Math.sqrt(a * a + b * b);
// Checking if the distance is less than,
// greater than or equal to radius.
if (radius == dist)
document.write ( "Touch" );
else if (radius > dist)
document.write( "Intersect") ;
else
document.write( "Outside") ;
}
// Driver Code
let radius = 5;
let x = 0, y = 0;
let a = 3, b = 4, c = 25;
checkCollision(a, b, c, x, y, radius);
// This code is contributed by susmitakundugoaldanga.
</script>
<?php
// PHP program to check if a line
// touches or intersects or outside
// a circle.
function checkCollision($a, $b, $c,
$x, $y, $radius)
{
// Finding the distance
// of line from center.
$dist = (abs($a * $x + $b * $y + $c)) /
sqrt($a * $a + $b * $b);
// Checking if the distance is less than,
// greater than or equal to radius.
if ($radius == $dist)
echo "Touch";
else if ($radius > $dist)
echo "Intersect";
else
echo "Outside" ;
}
// Driver Code
$radius = 5;
$x = 0;
$y = 0;
$a = 3;
$b = 4;
$c = 25;
checkCollision($a, $b, $c, $x, $y, $radius);
// This code is contributed by Sam007
?>
Output
Touch
Time Complexity : O(log(a*a + b*b)) as it is using inbuilt sqrt function
Auxiliary Space : O(1)
This article is contributed by Anuj Chauhan.