Ellipse

Definition An ellipse is the set of all points on a plane whose distance from two fixed points F and G add up to a constant.

A Circle is an Ellipse
In fact a Circle is an Ellipse, where both foci are at the same point (the center). In other words, a circle is a "special case" of an ellipse. Ellipses Rule!

Ellipse

An ellipse usually looks like a squashed circle.

It is defined by two special points called foci. "F" is a focus, "G" is a focus, and together they are called foci. (pronounced "fo-sigh")

Major and Minor Axes

The Major Axis is the longest diameter. It goes from one side of the ellipse, through the center, to the other side, at the widest part of the ellipse. And the Minor Axis is the shortest diameter (at the narrowest part of the ellipse). The Semi-major Axis is half of the Major Axis, and the Semi-minor Axis is half of the Minor Axis.

pictures

Calculations

Area The area of an ellipse is: ab (where a is the length of the Semi-major Axis, and b is the length of the Semiminor Axis).

Equation

By placing an ellipse on an x-y graph (with its major axis on the x-axis and minor axis on the y-axis), the equation of the curve is: x2/a2 + y2/b2 = 1 (very similar to the equation of the hyperbola : x2/a2 - y2/b2 = 1, except for a "+" instead of a "-")

Horizontal:

Formula
a2 > b2 If the larger denominator is under the "x" term, then the ellipse is horizontal. center (h, k) a = length of semi-major axis b = length of semi-minor axis vertices: (h + a, k), (h - a, k) co-vertices: (h, k + b), (h, k - b) [endpoints of the minor axis] c is the distance from the center to each focus. foci: (h + c, k), (h - c, k)

Vertical:

Formula
a2 > b2 If the larger denominator is under the "y" term, then the ellipse is vertical. center (h, k) a = length of semi-major axis b = length of semi-minor axis vertices: (h, k + a), (h, k - a) co-vertices: (h + b, k), (h - b, k) [endpoints of the minor axis] c is the distance from the center to each focus. foci: (h, k + c), (h, k - c)

sample
Find an equation of that ellipse that has xintercepts: 4,y intercepts: 3, and center at the origin. Step 1 Since the positive xintercept is greater than the positive y intercept, the major axis is horizontal. So a2 is the denominator of the x2 term. Therefore, a = xintercept and b = yintercept. Hence a2 = 16 and b2 = 9.

Substitute a2 = 16 and b2 = 9 in the standard equation of an ellipse,

2 sample :P
The equation of an ellipse is: 4x2 + 9y2 = 36 Find the coordinates of the foci and center, and the lengths of the major and minor axes. Draw the graph. Step 1 Rewrite the given equation in the standard form by making the constant term equal to 1. Divide each side by 36.

Since the denominator of the x2 term is greater than the denominator of the y2 term, the major axis is horizontal.

Since the major axis is horizontal the standard equation of an ellipse with its center at (0, 0) is,

By comparing the given equation with the standard equation we infer that a2 = 9 and b2 = 4. This gives a = 9 = 3 and b = 4 = 2.

Using the Pythagorean theorem, b2 = a2 c2 4 = 9 c2 c2= 5 c=5 The ellipse has foci at ( c, 0) and (c, 0) i.e. at, The length of the major axis is 2a = 2(3) = 6 units. The length of the minor axis is 2b = 2(2) = 4 units. Use this information to draw the graph.