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What is the standard form equation of an ellipse that has vertices (18,1) and (−10,1) and co-vertices (4,14) and (4,−12)?

User Barrie
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1 Answer

24 votes
24 votes

Answer:
((x-4)^2)/(196) +((y-1)^1)/(169) =1

Explanation:

You first need to determine if the ellipse is horizontal or vertical, which can be found by the length of the major axis.

The vertices are at (18,1) and (-10,1). The distance is 28 units. (horiz)

The co-vertices are at (4,14) and (4,-12) The distance 26 units (vert)

The major axis is horizontal, so the standard form of the ellipse is


((x-h)^2)/(a^2) +((y-k)^2)/(b^2) =1 where (h,k) are the coordinates of the center.

To find the center, find the midpoint of the major axis
((x1+x2)/(2) ,(y1+y2)/(2) )

The center is at (4,1)

Since the major axis is 2a, a would be 28 divided by 2=14 squared : 196

The minor axis is 2b, so b would e 26/2=13 squared: 169

Inserting the center and a,b values into the standard form eq:


((x-4)^2)/(196) +((y-1)^1)/(169) =1

hope this helps.

User Inthu
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