Lesson 1.

3
Ellipses
Introduction
An ellipse is one of the conic sections that most
students have not encountered
formally before, unlike circles and parabolas. Its
shape is a bounded curve which looks
like a flattened
circle. The orbits of the planets in our solar
system around the sun
happen to be elliptical in shape. Also, just like
parabolas, ellipses have reflective
properties that have been used in the construction of
certain structures (shown in some
of the practi
ce problems). We will see some properties and
applications of ellipses in
this section.
1.3.1. Definition and Equation of an Ellipse
Consider the points F
1
(
-
3,0) and F
2
(3,0), as shown in Figure 1.19
. What is the
sum of the distances of A(4,
2.4) from F
1
an
d from F
2
? How about the sum of the
distances of B (and C(0,
-
4)) from F
1
and from F
2
?
AF
1
+ AF
2
=7 .4+2 .6 = 10
BF
1
+ BF
2
=3 .8+6 .2 = 10
CF
1
+ CF
2
= 5 + 5 = 10
There
are other points P such that PF
1
+ PF
2
= 10. The collection of all such
points form
s a shape called an ellipse.
Let F
1
and F
2
be two distinct points. The set of all points P, whose
distances
from
F
1
and from F
2
add up to a certain constant, is
called an ellipse. The points F
1
and
F
2
are called the foci of the ellipse.
Figure 1.19
Figure 1.20
Given
are two points on the x
-
axis, F
1
(
-
c,
0) and F
2
(c,0), the foci, both c units
away from the
ir center (0,0). See Figure 1.20
. Let P(x,y) be a point on the ellipse. Let the
common sum of the distances be 2a (the coe
f
fi
cient 2 will make computat
ions simpler).
Thus, we have PF
1
+ PF
2
=2a.
PF
1
=2a
–
PF
2
√
(
푥
+
푐
)
2
+
푦
2
=
2
푎
−
√
(
푥
−
푐
)
2
+
푦
2
X
2
+ 2cx + c
2
+y
2
= 4a
2
–
4a
√
(
푥
−
푐
)
2
+
푦
2
+x
2
–
2cx + c
2
+y
2
a
√
(
푥
−
푐
)
2
+
푦
2
=a
2
–
cx
a
2
[x
2
–
2cx + c
2
+y
2
]=a
4
–
2a
2
cx + c
2
x
2
(a
2
–
c
2
)x
2
+a
2
y
2
=a
4
–
a
2
c
2
=a
2
(a
2
–
c
2
)
b
2
x
2
+a
2
y
2
=a
2
b
2
by letting b =
√
푎
2
−
푐
2
,
푠표
푎
>
푏
푥
2
푎
2
+
푦
2
푏
2
=1
When we let b
=
√
푎
2
−
푐
2
,
we assumed a>c. To
see why this is true, look at
ΔPF
1
F
2
in Figure 1.20
.
By the Triangle Inequality, PF
1
+ PF
2
>F
1
F
2
implies 2a>2c, so a>
c.
We collect here the features of the graph of an
ellipse with standard
equation
푥
2
푎
2
+
푦
2
푏
2
=
1
, where a > c. Let c =
√
푎
2
−
푏
2
.
1.
center:
origin (0 ,0) (2)
2.
foci:
F
1
(
-
c,
0) and F
2
(
c,
0)

Each focus is
c units away from the center.

For any point on the ellipse, the sum of its dis
tances from the foci is
2a.
3.
vertices:
V
1
(
-
a, 0) and V
2
(a,0)

The vertices are points on the ellipse, collinear with
the center and
foci.

If y = 0, then
x=
±a. Each vertex is a unit
away from the center.

The segment V
1
V
2
is called the major axis. Its length is 2a. It divides
the ellips
e into two congruent parts.
4.
c
o
vertices:
W
1
(0,
-
b) and W
2
(0, b)