The Ellipse

Analytic Geometry
Section 3.3

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 Definition of “ellipse”
• An ellipse is
the set of all
points in a
plane such
that the
distance from
two fixed
points (foci) on
the plane is a
constant.
2
 Equation of the Ellipse
• The equation of an • The position of the a2
ellipse with its center (under the x or y) tells
at the origin has one you whether the
of two forms: horizontal or the
x2 y 2 vertical axis is the
2
 2 1 major axis of the
a b
or ellipse.
y2 a2
2
 2 1
a b

3
 x2 y 2
 1
Ellipse 64 25

• This ellipse has a

horizontal major axis
that is 16 units long.

a 2  64, a  8
2a  16

4
 x2 y 2
Ellipse  1
64 25

• The minor axis of this

ellipse is 10 units in
length.

b  25, b  5
2

2b  10

5
Foci
• The two foci for this
ellipse are the two
points lying on the
horizontal axis that
appear to be a little
over 6 units from the
origin. The origin is
the center of the
ellipse. The distance
from the center to a
focus is “c”.
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• The segments drawn
from the two foci to
the point (0,5) on the
ellipse are each 8
units in length. Their
total length is 16
units. This total
length is also the
length of the major
axis.
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• Two more segments
are added, drawn
from the foci to the
point (2,4.84) on the
ellipse. Their lengths
are 9.556 and 6.434.
The sum of these
lengths is again 16
units.

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• The two latest
segments, drawn to
the point (7,-2.42) on
the ellipse, are 13.463
units and 2.537 units
in length, a sum of 16
units.

9
 x2 y 2
 2 1
The Ellipse a 2
b

• The ends of the major

axis are at (a,0) and
(0,b) P(x,y) (-a,0).
• The ends of the minor
(-a,0) (a,0) axis are at (0,b) and
(-c,0) (c,0)

(0,-b).
(0,-b)
• The foci are at (c,0)
and (-c,0).

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 x2 y 2
The Ellipse a 2
 2 1
b

• The sum of the

distances from point
(0,b) P(x,y)
P to the foci is 2a.

(-a,0)

(-c,0) (c,0)
(a,0)
• Also, c 2
 a 2
 b 2

or
b  a c
(0,-b)
2 2 2

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• A chord through a focus and
perpendicular to the major axis is
• The endpoints of the
called a latus rectum. two latus recti are
found using the
equivalence :
c  a b
2 2 2

providing the
endpoints
 b 
2

  c, 
 a
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 Latus Rectum
• When the equation of
the ellipse is

x2 y 2
 1
64 25
then c 2  64  25
 39
So the endpoints of the latus recti are:
and c  6.24

 6.24, 3.125
 

13
 y2  x2 1
The Ellipse 169 25

• The major axis is the

vertical axis with
endpoints (0,13) and
(0,-13). The endpoints
of the major axis are
called the vertices.
The minor axis has
endpoints of (5,0) and
(-5,0).

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 y2  x2 1
169 25

• The foci are found

using
c 2  a 2  b2
c 2  169  25  144
• so the values of c are
12 and -12. The
coordinates of the foci
are (0,12) and (0,-12).

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 y2  x2 1
169 25

• The endpoints of the

latus recti are:

 b2 
  c, 
 a
 25 
  12,  
 13 

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 Problem: Determining an equation

• Find the equation of

the ellipse with foci at
(8,0) and (-8,0) and a
vertex at (12,0).
• First, place these
points on axes. F F'

• The F and F’ are the

foci.

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 Finding the equation of the ellipse with foci at (8,0) and (-8,0) and a
vertex at (12,0).

• Since the vertex is on the horizontal axis, the

ellipse will be of the form:

x2 y 2
2
 2 1
a b

• The values of a and b need to be determined.

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 Finding the equation of the ellipse with foci at (8,0) and
(-8,0) and a vertex at (12,0).

• If the foci are at 8 and -8, then c = 8. Since a

vertex is at (12,0), that means that a = 12.
Relating these values to the standard form for
an ellipse whose center is at the origin and
2 2
whose major axis is horizontal, ax  by  1 ,
2 2

and the equivalence c 2  a 2  b 2

applies. Solve for b2 to get b  a  c
2 2 2

In this case, b 2  122  82  144  64  80

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 Finding the equation of the ellipse with foci at (8,0) and
(-8,0) and a vertex at (12,0).

• Since b 2  80, b  80  8.94

• The value of a is 12, and a2 is 144.
• The value of b is 80 and b2 is 80.
• So the equation of the ellipse is:
2 2
x 2
y 2 x y
•  2  1 or  1
a 2
b 144 80

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 Ellipse with center at (h,k)
• The ellipses with their centers at the origin
are just special cases of the more general
ellipse with its center at the point (h,k).
This more general ellipse has a standard
formula of:
( x  h) 2 ( y  k ) 2
2
 2
1
a b
or
( y  k ) 2 ( x  h) 2
2
 2
1
a b 21
 Problem: Write the equation in standard form

• The general form of the equation is:

4 x  8 y  4 x  24 y  13  0
2 2

• After writing this in standard form, also find

the coordinates of the center, the foci, the
ends of the major and minor axes, and the
ends of each latus rectum.
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 Write
4 x2  8 y 2  4 x  24 y  13  0
in standard form:

• First, group the terms with x’s and the

terms with y’s, and move the constant to
the other side of the equation.

4 x  4 x  8 y  24 y  13
2 2

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 Write
4 x  8 y  4 x  24 y  13  0
2 2

in standard form:

• Now factor out the coefficient of each squared term.

4( x2  x)  8( y 2  3 y)  13
• Then complete the square for each variable.

 2 1  2 9 1 9
4  x  x    8  y  3 y    13  4    8  
 4  4 4 4
2 2
 1  3
4  x    8  y    13  1  18
 2  2
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 To finish the problem:
• Simplify on the right.
2 2
 1  3
4  x    8  y    32
 2  2
• Then divide each side by 32.
2 2
 1  3
4 x   8 y  
 2
  2

32
32 32 32
2 2
 1  3
x  y 
 2 

2
1
8 4
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 The Ellipse
2 2
 1  3
x   y 
 2 

2
1
8 4
1 3
• This ellipse has a center at  2 , 2  .
 
• The major axis is 2 8 in length, and the minor
axis is 4 in length, so their endpoints are ( 8 ,0)
and (- 8 ,0), (0,2) and (0,-2).
• The foci are at (2,0) and (-2,0).

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 To finish
2 2
 1  3
x   y 
 2 

2
1
8 4
• Since the foci are at (2,0) and (-2,0), the
endpoints of the latus recti are at
 b2  
 c,     2, 
 a 
4 

8

 2,  2 

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 Site and Assignment
• There’s a neat website that you might
want to look at for more on the ellipse. It’s
at:
http://mathworld.wolfram.com/Ellipse.html

• Your assignment, due Monday, is:

3.3: 2, 3, 15, 16, 17, 22, 25, 44

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