Intersection of two circles

The following note describes how to find the intersection point(s) between two circles on a plane, the following notation is used. The aim is to find the two points P₃ = (x₃, y₃) if they exist.

First calculate the distance d between the center of the circles. d = ||P₁ - P₀||.

• If d > r₀ + r₁ then there are no solutions, the circles are separate.

• If d < |r₀ - r₁| then there are no solutions because one circle is contained within the other.

• If d = 0 and r₀ = r₁ then the circles are coincident and there are an infinite number of solutions.

Using d = a + b we can solve for a,

It can be readily shown that this reduces to r₀ when the two circles touch at one point, ie: d = r₀ + r₁

Solve for h by substituting a into the first equation, h² = r₀² - a²

And finally, P₃ = (x₃,y₃) in terms of P₀ = (x₀,y₀), P₁ = (x₁,y₁) and P₂ = (x₂,y₂), is