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Ellipse: Always Think Visually!

This document discusses ellipses and how to identify and graph them. An ellipse is defined as a conic section where the sum of the distances from two focal points is a constant. The key properties discussed are: - Ellipses have both variables squared in their standard form equations - Their coefficients will have the same sign - You can determine the major and minor axes from the denominators - The distance between the foci, c, can be calculated as c2 = a2 - b2, where a is the radius of the major axis and b is the radius of the minor axis - To graph an ellipse, you first build it from the center, then use the radii and c to plot the f

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17 views

Ellipse: Always Think Visually!

This document discusses ellipses and how to identify and graph them. An ellipse is defined as a conic section where the sum of the distances from two focal points is a constant. The key properties discussed are: - Ellipses have both variables squared in their standard form equations - Their coefficients will have the same sign - You can determine the major and minor axes from the denominators - The distance between the foci, c, can be calculated as c2 = a2 - b2, where a is the radius of the major axis and b is the radius of the minor axis - To graph an ellipse, you first build it from the center, then use the radii and c to plot the f

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Section 11.

The Ellipse
PARABOLA

CIRCLE

ELLIPSE

Only 1 variable
squared

x2 OR y2

HYPERBOLA

BOTH Variables Squared!

2 x2 6 y 2

4 x 2 4 y 2 and 7 x 2 3 y 2

Different coefficient
Same sign

and

4 x2 4 y 2

Same coefficient
Same sign

Different signs

Determine which of the following conic sections are ellipses.


a)

x 2 y 2 7 x 8 y 10 0

b)

x 2 64 y 2 10 y 8

c)
d)

( y 1) 2 ( x 2) 2

1
e)
9
6
f) ( x 2) 2 8( y 3)

y 2 x2

100
4
4
y 2 x2
1
7 7

( y 4) 2 ( x 1) 2

1
6
6
h) 6 y 2 10 x 2 4 0
g)

Ellipse (center at origin)

ALWAYS THINK VISUALLY!


Major axis:
Minor axis:

Foci:
Vertices:

Center is ALWAYS EQUIDISTANT from both!

Standard Equations-

Foci:

Vertices:

Graph:

a & b: think of as vertical (under y)and horizontal (under x) radii


c distance from vertex to both focus ( c2 a2 b2 ) *** a is always the larger value

Section 11.3

The Ellipse
Steps to graphing from equation:
** Must be in standard form **

1. Build from center.


2. What is my vertical radius and horizontal radius?

( denominator )

3. Calculate c. ( c2 a2 b2 )
4. Use c to graph both foci on major (longer) axis.
Example:

x2 y 2

1 and plot foci.


1. Graph
49 9

2. Graph 9 x 2 y 2 81 and plot foci.

3. Find the standard form of the equation of an ellipse with foci at (-1,0) ; (1,0) and vertices at (-3,0) ; (3,0).

4. Find the standard form of the equation of an ellipse with a major axis horizontal with length of 10, minor axis
length of 2, and centered at (0,0).

Homework: p. 1046: #1-45 odd

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