6-2 Ellipses

Unit 6 Conic Sections

Concepts and Objectives

Ellipses (Obj. 20)

Identify the equation of an ellipse

Find the center, x-radius, and y-radius of an ellipse

Find the major and minor axes

Find the foci and focal length of an ellipse

Write the equation of an ellipse

Solve problems involving ellipses

Ellipses

An ellipse, geometrically speaking, is a set of points in a
plane such that for each point, the sum of its distances,
d1 + d2, from two fixed points F1 and F2, is constant.

What does this mean?

Put a piece of paper on top of the cardboard.

Place the two pins at least 3" apart.

Tie your piece of string in a loop that will fit around

the pins without going off the edge.

Put the loop around the pins, pull it taut, and trace
around the loop.
Parts of an Ellipse

Parts of an ellipse:

Center

Vertices (ea. vertex)

• •

Major axis

Minor axis

Foci (ea. focus)

What we have done with the string is kept the distance

between the foci and the points on the ellipse constant
(i.e. the definition).
Parts of an Ellipse

Other important parts:

The semi-major and semi-minor axes are half the
length of the major and minor axes.

The distance from the center to the ellipse in the x-
direction is called the x-radius. Likewise, the distance
in the y-direction is called the y-radius.

The distance between the foci is called the focal
length. The distance between the center and a focus
is called the focal radius.
Ellipses

Generally speaking,

a is the length of the semi-major axis

b is the length of the semi-minor axis

c is the length of the focal radius.

Therefore,

The length of the major axis is 2a

The length of the minor axis is 2b

The sum of the distances from a point (x, y) to a point

on the ellipse is 2a
Focal Radius
Not only does the dotted
line trace the outline of the
ellipse, but it is also the
length of the major axis. As a
b
you can see from the
picture, half of that length c
(a) is the hypotenuse of the
triangle formed by the semi-
minor axis and the focal
radius. This gives us the
formula:
c 2 = a2 − b2 (careful!)
Standard Form

The standard form of an ellipse centered at (h, k) is
2 2
 x −h  y −k 
  +   = 1
 rx   ry 
where rx is the x-radius and ry is the y-radius.

To graph an ellipse from the standard form, plot the
center, mark the x- and y-radii, and sketch in the curve.
Standard Form

Example: Sketch the graph of
2 2
 x −4   y +1 
 3  + 5  =1
   

The center is at (4, –1)

The x-radius is ±3
The y-radius is ±5
Sketch in the curves
Standard Form of an Ellipse

Example: Sketch the graph of
4 x 2 + 9 y 2 − 16 x + 90 y + 205 = 0
To sketch the graph, we have to rewrite the equation.
( 4x − 16x ) + ( 9 y + 90 y ) = −205
2 2

4 ( x − 4 x + 2 ) + 9( y + 10 y + 5 ) = −205 + 4 ( 2 ) + 9(5 )
2 2 2 2 2 2

4 ( x − 2) 9 ( y + 5)
2 2
36
+ =
36 36 36

( x − 2) ( y + 5)
2 2 2 2
 x −2   y +5 
+ =1   +  =1
9 4  3   2 
Standard Form of an Ellipse

Example (cont.):
2 2
 x −2   y +5 
  +  =1
 3   2 
The center is at (2, –5)
The x-radius is ±3
The y-radius is ±2
Focal Length

Example: Write the equation of the ellipse having center
at the origin, foci at (–5, 0) and (5, 0), and major axis of
length 18 units.

Since the major axis is 18 units long, 2a = 18, so a = 9.

The distance between the center and a focus, c, is 5.
Therefore, we can find b using the formula:
c 2 = a2 − b2
52 = 92 − b2
b2 = 92 − 52 = 56
b = 56
Focal Length

Example (cont.):

The foci lie along the major axis, so we know that rx = a.

Putting it all together, we have:
2 2
x  y 
  +  =1
 9   56 
x2 y2
+ =1
81 56
Eccentricity

The eccentricity of an ellipse is a measure of its
“roundness”, and it is the ratio of the focal length to the
major axis.

This ratio is written as
c
e=
a
Eccentricity

Example: The orbit of Jupiter is an ellipse with the sun
at one focus (mostly). The eccentricity of the ellipse is
0.0489, and the maximum distance of Jupiter from the
sun is 507.4 million miles. Find the closest distance that
Jupiter comes to the sun.
Jupiter
c •
= 0.0489 a–c
a
Sun
c = 0.0489a •
a + c = 507.4 a+c
a + 0.0489a = 507.4
507.4
a= ≈ 483.74
1.0489
Eccentricity

Example (cont.):

c = 0.0489 ( 483.74 )
c = 23.65
a − c = 483.74 − 23.65 Jupiter
= 460.1 million miles • a–c

Sun
•
a+c
Homework

Algebra & Trigonometry (green book)

Page 476: 3-18 (×3s)

Turn in: 9, 15

College Algebra (brown book)

Page 968: 15-39 (×3s), 45, 47a, 48

Turn in: 18, 24, 47, 48