What makes an ellipse




















However, the equation is not always given in standard form. The steps for graphing an ellipse given its equation in general form are outlined in the following example. Step 1: Group the terms with the same variables and move the constant to the right side. Factor so that the leading coefficient of each grouping is 1.

Step 2: Complete the square for each grouping. The factor in front of the grouping affects the value used to balance the equation on the right side:. Now factor and then divide to obtain 1 on the right side.

In this example, we only need to complete the square for the terms involving x. Because b is larger than a , the length of the major axis is 2 b and the length of the minor axis is 2 a. Answer: Center: 3 , 0 ; major axis: 2 5 units; minor axis: 2 units. Given the equation of an ellipse in standard form, determine its center, orientation, major radius, and minor radius.

Determine the standard form for the equation of an ellipse given the following information. Find the x - and y -intercepts. Find the equation of the ellipse. Rewrite in standard form and graph. Given general form determine the intercepts. Determine the area of the ellipse. Given the graph of an ellipse, determine its equation in general form. Explain why a circle can be thought of as a very special ellipse. Make up your own equation of an ellipse, write it in general form and graph it.

Do all ellipses have intercepts? The first step to finding the percentage of the garden that is being watered is to check that none of the water is falling outside the garden. The center of the circle can be found by comparing the equation in this exercise to the equation of a circle:. There are many points you could choose. Plugging this into the equation, we get:. The left side is equal to the right side of the equation, and so this is a valid point on the circle.

Now, complete the square in both parentheses, subtracting or adding the necessary constant to both sides of the equation:. It even has a number on the right side. How can we get rid of them to get into standard form? Privacy Policy. Skip to main content. Conic Sections. Search for:. The Circle and the Ellipse. Learning Objectives Explain how the equation of a circle describes its properties. Key Takeaways Key Points A circle is defined as the set of points that are a fixed distance from a center point.

The distance formula can be extended directly to the definition of a circle by noting that the radius is the distance between the center of a circle and the edge. Key Terms diameter : Two times the radius of a circle. Learning Objectives Connect the equation for an ellipse to the equation for a circle with stretching factors. Key Takeaways Key Points An ellipse and a circle are both examples of conic sections. A circle is a special case of an ellipse, with the same radius for all points.

By stretching a circle in the x or y direction, an ellipse is created. Learning Objectives Discuss how the equation of an ellipse describes its properties. Key Takeaways Key Points An ellipse is formed by a plane intersecting a cone at an angle to its base. Rather strangely, the perimeter of an ellipse is very difficult to calculate , so I created a special page for the subject: read Perimeter of an Ellipse for more details.

A tangent line just touches a curve at one point, without cutting across it. Here is a tangent to an ellipse:. Here is a cool thing: the tangent line has equal angles with the two lines going to each focus!

Try bringing the two focus points together so the ellipse is a circle Light or sound starting at one focus point reflects to the other focus point because angle in matches angle out :. Have a play with a simple computer model of reflection inside an ellipse.



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