CONIC SECTIONS PART 1

(Parabolas and Circles)

Curves such as parabolas, circles, hyperbolas and ellipses are called conic
sections because they are formed by cutting a double cone with a plane. See
diagram below.

In this week’s lesson we will study the structures of parabolas and circles.
The Parabola
Definition (Parabola)
A parabola is the set of points in a plane which are equidistant from a fixed
point 𝑭 (called the focus) and a fixed line (called the directrix) .

The focus lies on a line perpendicular to the directrix, and this line is called
the axis of the parabola. The vertex of the parabola is the point on the
parabola which is half way between the focus and the directrix. This implies
that the distance from the vertex to the focus is the same as the distance
from the vertex to the directrix.
 Conic Sections Part 1 (Parabolas and Circles) Page 2

Equation of the Parabola whose axis is on the 𝒚-axis with vertex 𝑽(𝟎, 𝟎)
We will derive the equation for the simple parabola whose axis coincides with the
y-axis. Assume that the directrix has equation 𝒚 = −𝒑 as shown in the diagram
below. The focus of the parabola will be 𝑭(𝟎, 𝒑).
Vertical Parabola

Referring to the above diagram, if 𝑷(𝒙, 𝒚) is a point on the parabola then by the
definition of the parabola, the distances 𝑷𝑭 and 𝑷𝑸 are equal. We can then
apply the distance formula to obtain
𝒙−𝟎 𝟐 + 𝒚−𝒑 𝟐 = 𝒙−𝒙 𝟐 + 𝒚 − (−𝒑 )𝟐
𝒙𝟐 + 𝒚 − 𝒑 𝟐
= 𝒚+𝒑 𝟐

𝒙𝟐 + 𝒚𝟐 − 𝟐𝒑𝒚 + 𝒑𝟐 = 𝒚𝟐 + 𝟐𝒑𝒚 + 𝒑𝟐
𝒙𝟐 = 𝟒𝒑𝒚
Thus the standard form of the parabola whose axis coincides with 𝒚-axis and
whose vertex is given by
𝒙𝟐
𝒚=
𝟒𝒑
We note that if 𝒑 > 𝟎, the parabola opens upwards with focus 𝟎, 𝒑 and if
𝒑 < 𝟎, the parabola opens downwards with focus (𝟎, 𝒑) as shown in the diagrams
below.
Conic Sections Part 1 (Parabolas and Circles) Page 3

Equation of the Parabola whose axis is on the 𝒙-axis with vertex 𝑽(𝟎, 𝟎)
𝒙𝟐
By interchanging the 𝒙 and 𝒚 values in the equation 𝒚 = , we obtain the
𝟒𝒑
equation of the parabola whose axis is on the x-axis.
𝒚𝟐 Horizontal Parabola
𝒙=
𝟒𝒑
If 𝒑 > 𝟎, the parabola opens to the right, and if 𝒑 < 𝟎, the parabola opens to
the left as shown in the figures below.

Example 1
Find the focus and directrix of the following parabolas and then sketch their
graphs.
(a) 𝒚𝟐 = 𝟏𝟐𝒙 (b) 𝟑𝒚 + 𝟐𝒙𝟐 = 𝟎
Solutions
(a) We write the equation in standard form to obtain
𝒚𝟐
𝒙=
𝟏𝟐
Comparing the above equation with the standard
𝒚𝟐
equation 𝒙 = , we have
𝟒𝒑
𝟒𝒑 = 𝟏𝟐  𝒑 = 𝟑.
The focus is (𝟑, 𝟎) and
the directrix is 𝒙 = −𝒑 = −𝟑.
 Conic Sections Part 1 (Parabolas and Circles) Page 4
Example 1 (continued)
(b) 𝟑𝒚 + 𝟐𝒙𝟐 = 𝟎
Solution
We want to bring this equation to the standard
𝒙𝟐
form 𝒚 = by solving for 𝒚:
𝟒𝒑
𝟐 𝒙𝟐 𝟐 𝟏
𝒚= − 𝒙𝟐 = − =−𝟑
𝟑 −𝟑/𝟐 𝟑
𝟐
Comparing with the
standard form, we have
𝟑 𝟑
𝟒𝒑 = −  𝒑 = − .
𝟐 𝟖
𝟑
The focus is (𝟎, − ) and
𝟖
𝟑 𝟑
the directrix is 𝒚 = −𝒑 = − − = .
𝟖 𝟖

The General Equation of a Parabola whose axis is parallel to the 𝒚-axis.

The general equation of a parabola with vertex (𝒉, 𝒌) and whose axis is parallel to the 𝒚 − axis is given
by
𝟏
𝒚−𝒌 = 𝒙−𝒉 𝟐
𝟒𝒑

The focus has coordinates 𝑭(𝒉, 𝒑 + 𝒌)

and the equation of the directrix is
𝒚 = 𝒌 − 𝒑 , as shown in the diagram on the right.

Example 2
Find the equation of the parabola with vertex −𝟐, 𝟑 and focus (−𝟐, 𝟒). Sketch the parabola showing
its vertex, focus and directrix.
Solution
We are given 𝒉 = −𝟐 and 𝒌 = 𝟑. Both the vertex
and focus lie on the same vertical line 𝒙 = −𝟐,
with the focus above the vertex. Thus, this is a
vertical parabola which opens upwards.
Since the focus coordinates are
𝒉, 𝒑 + 𝒌 = −𝟐, 𝟒 , we have 𝒑 + 𝟑 = 𝟒,
which results in 𝒑 = 𝟏.
The equation of the parabola is then
𝟏 𝟐
𝒚− 𝟑 = 𝒙 − −𝟐
𝟒 𝟏
𝟏
𝒚= 𝒙+𝟐 𝟐+𝟑
𝟒
The equation of the directrix is 𝒚 = 𝒌 − 𝒑 = 𝟐.
 Conic Sections Part 1 (Parabolas and Circles) Page 5

The General Equation of a Parabola whose axis is parallel to the 𝒙-axis.

The general equation of a parabola with vertex (𝒉, 𝒌) and whose axis is parallel to the
𝒙 − axis is given by
𝟏
𝒙−𝒉 = 𝒚−𝒌 𝟐
𝟒𝒑
The focus has coordinates 𝑭(𝒉 + 𝒑, 𝒌)
and the equation of the directrix is
𝒙 = 𝒉 − 𝒑 as shown in the diagram on the right.

Example 3
Draw the graph of the equation
𝒚𝟐 − 𝟖𝒙 − 𝟔𝒚 − 𝟐𝟑 = 𝟎
Solution
The presence of the 𝒚𝟐 term indicates that this is the equation of a horizontal parabola.
We bring the equation to the general form by separating the variables.
𝟖𝒙 = 𝒚𝟐 − 𝟔𝒚 − 𝟐𝟑
𝟖𝒙 = 𝒚𝟐 − 𝟔𝒚 + 𝟑 𝟐 − 𝟐𝟑 − 𝟗
(𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐞𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐪𝐮𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞)
𝟖𝒙 + 𝟑𝟐 = 𝒚 − 𝟑 𝟐
𝟏
𝒙+𝟒 = 𝒚−𝟑 𝟐
𝟖
Comparing the above equation with the general equation, we have
𝟏 𝟏
𝒉 = −𝟒, 𝒌 = 𝟑, 𝒑 = 𝟐 = .
𝟒𝒑 𝟖
The vertex of the parabola is (−𝟒, 𝟑) ,
focus is (−𝟐, 𝟑) and the directrix is
𝒙 = −𝟒 − 𝟐 = −𝟔.

The graph is shown on the right.

 Conic Sections Part 1 (Parabolas and Circles) Page 6

The Circle
Definition (Circle)
A circle is the set of points in a plane which are equidistant from a fixed point
called the centre of the circle. The distance from each point on the circle to
the centre is called the radius of the circle.

The general equation of a circle with centre (𝒉, 𝒌) and radius r is given by

𝟐 𝟐
𝒙−𝒉 + 𝒚−𝒌 = 𝒓𝟐

Example 4
Determine the centre and radius of the following circle
𝒙𝟐 + 𝒚𝟐 − 𝟖𝒚 + 𝟒𝒙 + 𝟏𝟔 = 𝟎
Solution
We complete the square for both variables to bring the equation to the
general form.
𝒙𝟐 + 𝟒𝒙 + 𝟒 + 𝒚𝟐 − 𝟖𝒚 + 𝟏𝟔 = −𝟏𝟔 + 𝟒 + 𝟏𝟔
𝒙+𝟐 𝟐+ 𝒚−𝟒 𝟐 =𝟒
The centre of the circle is (−𝟐, 𝟒) and its radius is 𝟐.

Summary

Type of Conic General Equation Vertex ( 𝑽) Focus (𝐹) Directrix

𝟏
Vertical Parabola 𝒚−𝒌= 𝒙−𝒉 𝟐 (𝒉, 𝒌) (𝒉, 𝒌 + 𝒑) 𝒚=𝒌−𝒑
𝟒𝒑
𝟏
Horizontal Parabola 𝒙−𝒉= 𝒚−𝒌 𝟐 (𝒉, 𝒌) (𝒉 + 𝒑, 𝒌) 𝒙=𝒉−𝒑
𝟒𝒑
Circle 𝒙 − 𝒉 𝟐 + 𝒚 − 𝒌 𝟐 = 𝒓𝟐 - - -
 Conic Sections Part 1 (Parabolas and Circles) Page 7

Self-Assessment Exercises
1. Determine the vertices, foci and equation of the directrix of the following
conic sections:
(a) 𝟓𝒙𝟐 + 𝟏𝟎𝒚 = 𝟎
(b) 𝟒𝒚𝟐 − 𝟔𝒙 = 𝟎
(c) 𝒚𝟐 − 𝟏𝟐𝒙 − 𝟒𝒚 − 𝟏𝟔 = 𝟎
(d) 𝟐𝒙𝟐 − 𝟒𝒙 − 𝟐𝒚 + 𝟑 = 𝟎
2. Find the equation of the parabola, in general form, whose vertex is (𝟒, 𝟎)
and directrix is 𝒙 = 𝟔. Sketch the graph.
3. Sketch the graphs of the following conic sections:
(a) 𝒙𝟐 + 𝒚𝟐 − 𝟐𝒙 + 𝟒𝒚 − 𝟒 = 𝟎
(b) Focus of (−𝟑, −𝟒) and directrix 𝒚 = 𝟐.