<< Chapter < Page Chapter >> Page >

Deriving the equation of an ellipse centered at the origin

Let ( c , 0 ) and ( c , 0 ) be the foci    of a hyperbola centered at the origin. The hyperbola is the set of all points ( x , y ) such that the difference of the distances from ( x , y ) to the foci is constant. See [link] .

If ( a , 0 ) is a vertex of the hyperbola, the distance from ( c , 0 ) to ( a , 0 ) is a ( c ) = a + c . The distance from ( c , 0 ) to ( a , 0 ) is c a . The sum of the distances from the foci to the vertex is

( a + c ) ( c a ) = 2 a

If ( x , y ) is a point on the hyperbola, we can define the following variables:

d 2 = the distance from  ( c , 0 )  to  ( x , y ) d 1 = the distance from  ( c , 0 )  to  ( x , y )

By definition of a hyperbola, d 2 d 1 is constant for any point ( x , y ) on the hyperbola. We know that the difference of these distances is 2 a for the vertex ( a , 0 ) . It follows that d 2 d 1 = 2 a for any point on the hyperbola. As with the derivation of the equation of an ellipse, we will begin by applying the distance formula    . The rest of the derivation is algebraic. Compare this derivation with the one from the previous section for ellipses.

                                       d 2 d 1 = ( x ( c ) ) 2 + ( y 0 ) 2 ( x c ) 2 + ( y 0 ) 2 = 2 a Distance Formula ( x + c ) 2 + y 2 ( x c ) 2 + y 2 = 2 a Simplify expressions .                             ( x + c ) 2 + y 2 = 2 a + ( x c ) 2 + y 2 Move radical to opposite side .                               ( x + c ) 2 + y 2 = ( 2 a + ( x c ) 2 + y 2 ) 2 Square both sides .                      x 2 + 2 c x + c 2 + y 2 = 4 a 2 + 4 a ( x c ) 2 + y 2 + ( x c ) 2 + y 2 Expand the squares .                      x 2 + 2 c x + c 2 + y 2 = 4 a 2 + 4 a ( x c ) 2 + y 2 + x 2 2 c x + c 2 + y 2 Expand remaining square .                                               2 c x = 4 a 2 + 4 a ( x c ) 2 + y 2 2 c x Combine like terms .                                    4 c x 4 a 2 = 4 a ( x c ) 2 + y 2 Isolate the radical .                                        c x a 2 = a ( x c ) 2 + y 2 Divide by 4 .                                    ( c x a 2 ) 2 = a 2 [ ( x c ) 2 + y 2 ] 2 Square both sides .                      c 2 x 2 2 a 2 c x + a 4 = a 2 ( x 2 2 c x + c 2 + y 2 ) Expand the squares .                     c 2 x 2 2 a 2 c x + a 4 = a 2 x 2 2 a 2 c x + a 2 c 2 + a 2 y 2 Distribute  a 2 .                                    a 4 + c 2 x 2 = a 2 x 2 + a 2 c 2 + a 2 y 2 Combine like terms .                   c 2 x 2 a 2 x 2 a 2 y 2 = a 2 c 2 a 4 Rearrange terms .                     x 2 ( c 2 a 2 ) a 2 y 2 = a 2 ( c 2 a 2 ) Factor common terms .                               x 2 b 2 a 2 y 2 = a 2 b 2 Set  b 2 = c 2 a 2 .                              x 2 b 2 a 2 b 2 a 2 y 2 a 2 b 2 = a 2 b 2 a 2 b 2 Divide both sides by  a 2 b 2                                      x 2 a 2 y 2 b 2 = 1

This equation defines a hyperbola centered at the origin with vertices ( ± a , 0 ) and co-vertices ( 0 ± b ) .

Standard forms of the equation of a hyperbola with center (0,0)

The standard form of the equation of a hyperbola with center ( 0 , 0 ) and transverse axis on the x -axis is

x 2 a 2 y 2 b 2 = 1

where

  • the length of the transverse axis is 2 a
  • the coordinates of the vertices are ( ± a , 0 )
  • the length of the conjugate axis is 2 b
  • the coordinates of the co-vertices are ( 0, ± b )
  • the distance between the foci is 2 c , where c 2 = a 2 + b 2
  • the coordinates of the foci are ( ± c , 0 )
  • the equations of the asymptotes are y = ± b a x

See [link] a .

The standard form of the equation of a hyperbola with center ( 0 , 0 ) and transverse axis on the y -axis is

y 2 a 2 x 2 b 2 = 1

where

  • the length of the transverse axis is 2 a
  • the coordinates of the vertices are ( 0, ± a )
  • the length of the conjugate axis is 2 b
  • the coordinates of the co-vertices are ( ± b , 0 )
  • the distance between the foci is 2 c , where c 2 = a 2 + b 2
  • the coordinates of the foci are ( 0, ± c )
  • the equations of the asymptotes are y = ± a b x

See [link] b .

Note that the vertices, co-vertices, and foci are related by the equation c 2 = a 2 + b 2 . When we are given the equation of a hyperbola, we can use this relationship to identify its vertices and foci.

Questions & Answers

how do you get the 2/50
Abba Reply
number of sport play by 50 student construct discrete data
Aminu Reply
width of the frangebany leaves on how to write a introduction
Theresa Reply
Solve the mean of variance
Veronica Reply
Step 1: Find the mean. To find the mean, add up all the scores, then divide them by the number of scores. ... Step 2: Find each score's deviation from the mean. ... Step 3: Square each deviation from the mean. ... Step 4: Find the sum of squares. ... Step 5: Divide the sum of squares by n – 1 or N.
kenneth
what is error
Yakuba Reply
Is mistake done to something
Vutshila
Hy
anas
hy
What is the life teble
anas
hy
Jibrin
statistics is the analyzing of data
Tajudeen Reply
what is statics?
Zelalem Reply
how do you calculate mean
Gloria Reply
diveving the sum if all values
Shaynaynay
let A1,A2 and A3 events be independent,show that (A1)^c, (A2)^c and (A3)^c are independent?
Fisaye Reply
what is statistics
Akhisani Reply
data collected all over the world
Shaynaynay
construct a less than and more than table
Imad Reply
The sample of 16 students is taken. The average age in the sample was 22 years with astandard deviation of 6 years. Construct a 95% confidence interval for the age of the population.
Aschalew Reply
Bhartdarshan' is an internet-based travel agency wherein customer can see videos of the cities they plant to visit. The number of hits daily is a normally distributed random variable with a mean of 10,000 and a standard deviation of 2,400 a. what is the probability of getting more than 12,000 hits? b. what is the probability of getting fewer than 9,000 hits?
Akshay Reply
Bhartdarshan'is an internet-based travel agency wherein customer can see videos of the cities they plan to visit. The number of hits daily is a normally distributed random variable with a mean of 10,000 and a standard deviation of 2,400. a. What is the probability of getting more than 12,000 hits
Akshay
1
Bright
Sorry i want to learn more about this question
Bright
Someone help
Bright
a= 0.20233 b=0.3384
Sufiyan
a
Shaynaynay
How do I interpret level of significance?
Mohd Reply
It depends on your business problem or in Machine Learning you could use ROC- AUC cruve to decide the threshold value
Shivam
how skewness and kurtosis are used in statistics
Owen Reply
yes what is it
Taneeya
Got questions? Join the online conversation and get instant answers!
Jobilize.com Reply
Practice Key Terms 4

Get Jobilize Job Search Mobile App in your pocket Now!

Get it on Google Play Download on the App Store Now




Source:  OpenStax, College algebra. OpenStax CNX. Feb 06, 2015 Download for free at https://legacy.cnx.org/content/col11759/1.3
Google Play and the Google Play logo are trademarks of Google Inc.

Notification Switch

Would you like to follow the 'College algebra' conversation and receive update notifications?

Ask