WTW 164

Unit 4.1.4: Conic sections

Dr HR (Maya) Thackeray
<maya.thackeray@up.ac.za>
Conic sections
If a plane intersects a cone, then the intersection can be:
• An ellipse (for example, a circle),
• A parabola, or
• A hyperbola.
Equations of conic sections
• Circle (special case of ellipse): (x – h)2 + (y – k)2 = r2, where (h, k) is the centre
and r is the radius.
• Ellipse: ((x – h)/a)2 + ((y – k)/b)2 = 1 or ((x – h)/b)2 + ((y – k)/a)2 = 1, a b,
where (h, k) is the centre, a is the semimajor axis, and b is the semiminor axis.
• Hyperbola: ((x – h)/a)2 – ((y – k)/b)2 = 1 (asymptotes (x – h)/a = (y – k)/b;
branches on left and right)
or ((y – k)/a)2 – ((x – h)/b)2 = 1 (asymptotes (x – h)/b = (y – k)/a; branches on top
and bottom).
• Parabola: 4p(y – k) = (x – h)2 (shape of a smile for p > 0)
or 4p(x – h) = (y – k)2 (shape of a C for p > 0).
Ellipse: Foci and vertices (excluded from
WTW 164)
Let F1 and F2 be the foci. (One focus, many foci.) For some constant a >
0, the ellipse is the set of points P such that |PF1| + |PF2| = 2a.
Let L be the line through the foci. The line’s intersections with the
ellipse are the vertices. The part of that line in the ellipse is the major
axis. If M is the line through the ellipse’s centre at right angles to L,
then the minor axis is the part of M in the ellipse.
• ((x – h)/a)2 + ((y – k)/b)2 = 1: The line through the foci is horizontal.
The foci are at (h , k); the vertices are at (h a, k).
• ((x – h)/b)2 + ((y – k)/a)2 = 1: The line through the foci is vertical. The
foci are at (h, k ); the vertices are at (h, k a).
Hyperbola: Foci and vertices (excluded from
WTW 164)
Let F1 and F2 be the foci. For some constant a > 0, the ellipse is the set
of points P such that ||PF1| – |PF2|| = 2a.
Let L be the line through the foci. The line’s intersections with the
hyperbola are the vertices.
• ((x – h)/a)2 – ((y – k)/b)2 = 1: The line through the foci is horizontal.
The foci are at (h , k); the vertices are at (h a, k).
• ((y – k)/a)2 – ((x – h)/b)2 = 1: The line through the foci is vertical. The
foci are at (h, k ); the vertices are at (h, k a).
Parabola: Focus and directrix (excluded from
WTW 164)
Let F be the focus and let the line L be the directrix. The parabola is the
set of points P such that |PF| = |PL| (where |PL| is the shortest
distance from the point P to the line L).
• 4p(y – k) = (x – h)2: The focus is (x, y) = (h, k + p) and the directrix is
the horizontal line y = k – p.
• 4p(x – h) = (y – k)2: The focus is (x, y) = (h + p, k) and the directrix is
the vertical line x = h – p.
Example
Consider 2x2 – 8x + 3y2 – 6y – 14 = 0.
The equation is equivalent to 2(x2 – 4x) + 3(y2 – 2y) – 14 = 0.
Completing the square, we get 2((x – 2)2 – 4) + 3((y – 1)2 – 1) – 14 = 0.
We obtain 2(x – 2)2 + 3(y – 1)2 – 25 = 0, so 2(x – 2)2 + 3(y – 1)2 = 25,
so + = 1, so + = 1.
This is an ellipse with centre (2, 1), horizontal semimajor axis 5/, and
vertical semiminor axis 5/.