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Determine the equation of the ellipse with center (10,-8), a focus at (10, -14),

and a vertex at (10, -18).

Determine the equation of the ellipse with center (10,-8), a focus at (10, -14), and-example-1
User Eralper
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1 Answer

7 votes

Answer:

(x -10)²/64 +(y +8)²/100 = 1

Explanation:

You want the equation of the ellipse with center (10,-8), a focus at (10, -14), and a vertex at (10, -18).

Axes

The length of the semi-major axis is the distance between the center and the give vertex: a = -8 -(-18) = 10 units.

The distance from the center to the focus is -8 -(-14) = 6.

The distance from the center to the covertex is the other leg of the right triangle with these distances as the hypotenuse and one leg.

b = √(10² -6²) = √64 = 8 . . . . units

Equation

The equation for the ellipse with semi-axes 'a' and 'b' with center (h, k) is ...

(x -h)²/b² +(y -k)²/a² = 1

(x -10)²/64 +(y +8)²/100 = 1

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Additional comment

The center, focus, and given vertex are all on the vertical line x=10, This means the major axis is in the vertical direction, and the denominator of the y-term will be the larger of the two denominators.

You will notice the center-focus-covertex triangle is a 3-4-5 right triangle with a scale factor of 2.

Determine the equation of the ellipse with center (10,-8), a focus at (10, -14), and-example-1
User Kovy Jacob
by
8.4k points

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