Lemma 3.6.1: Consider A Conic Choose X - and Y - Axes So That F Is The Origin and L Is Parallel To The The Equation of
Lemma 3.6.1: Consider A Conic Choose X - and Y - Axes So That F Is The Origin and L Is Parallel To The The Equation of
Our first lemma applies to the case e 6= 1, so will be useful for both
ellipses and hyperbolas.
Lemma 3.6.1
Consider a conic C with focus F , directrix L and eccentricity e 6= 1.
Choose X - and Y -axes so that F is the origin and L is parallel to the
Y -axis, given by the equation X = −h for some non-zero h ∈ R. Then
the equation of C is given by
2
he 2 Y2 e 2 h2
X− 2
+ 2
= .
1−e 1−e (1 − e 2 )2
Proof:
A point P = (X , Y ) lies on C if and only if PF = e dist(P, L).
√
We have PF = X 2 + Y 2 by Pythagoras’ Theorem,
while dist(P, L)= |X + h|.
So we can rewrite the defining equation as follows:
PF = e dist(P, L)
p
X 2 + Y 2 = e|X + h|
X 2 + Y 2 = e 2 |X + h|2
X 2 + Y 2 = e 2 (X 2 + 2Xh + h2 )
X 2 (1 − e 2 ) + Y 2 − 2he 2 X = h2 e 2
The equation of a conic continued
2he 2 X Y2 h2 e 2
X2 − + =
1 − e2 1 − e2 1 − e2
2
he 2 h2 e 4 Y2 h2 e 2
X− − + =
1 − e2 (1 − e 2 )2 1 − e2 1 − e2
Theorem 3.6.2
Let C be an ellipse. Then there exist axes, with corresponding coordinates
x, y , and real numbers a > b > 0, such that the equation of C is
x2 y2
+ = 1. (1)
a2 b2
Proof:
Let e be the eccentricity of C; then 0 < e < 1, so our previous lemma
applies, and we know that there are coordinates X , Y such that the
equation of C is
2
he 2 Y2 e 2 h2
X− + =
1 − e2 1 − e2 (1 − e 2 )2
he
Let a = 1−e 2 . Then we can rewrite the equation as
Y2
(X − ae)2 + = a2
1 − e2
(X − ae)2 Y2
+ = 1.
a2 a2 (1 − e 2 )
x = X − ae, y = Y.
p
We also set b = a2 (1 − e 2 ). Then we can rewrite the equation as
x2 y2
+ = 1.
a2 b2
We also have the converse: a curve with an equation of the form (1)
always gives an ellipse:
Theorem 3.6.3
Let C be the curve defined by the equation:
x2 y2
2
+ 2 = 1, (2)
a b
where a > b > 0. Then C is an ellipse with eccentricity
r
b2
e = 1− 2,
a
focus at (ae, 0) and directrix given by x = ea . This ellipse can also be
described by taking focus (−ae, 0) and directrix x = − ea .
The equation of an ellipse part ii
In the picture below, F and F ′ label the foci, C is the centre and there
are two directrices at x = ± ea .
y
b
−a F′ C F a
• • •
− ea (−ae, 0) (ae, 0) a
e
x
−b
The equation of an ellipse part ii
x2 y2 x2 y2
+ = + =1
a2 b2 a2 a2 (1 − e 2 )
x 2 (1 − e 2 ) + y 2 = a2 (1 − e 2 )
x 2 − 2aex + a2 e 2 + y 2 = e 2 x 2 − 2aex + a2
a
(x − ae)2 + y 2 = e 2 (x − )2
e
p
2 2
a
(x − ae) + y = e · x − .
e
This last equation states that the distance from (x, y ) to (ae, 0) is equal
to e multiplied by the distance from (x, y ) to the line x = ea , which is the
definition of the ellipse with focus (ae, 0) and directrix x = ea .
The equation of an ellipse part ii
x 2 + 2aex + a2 e 2 + y 2 = e 2 x 2 + 2aex + a2
a
(x + ae)2 + y 2 = e 2 (x + )2
e
p
2 2
a
(x + ae) + y = e · x + ,
e
giving the alternative description.
The standard equation of an ellipse
Definition 3.6.4
The equation
x2 y2
+ = 1, (3)
a2 b2
with a > b, is called the standard equation of the ellipse. The ellipse has
the following features:
centre (0, 0)
major axis line from (−a, 0) to (a, 0)
minor axis line from (0, −b) to (0, b)
semi-axis lengths a and b
Remarks
Remark 3.6.5
(a) Note that if (x, y ) lies on the ellipse then so does (−x, y ), so the
ellipse is symmetric about the y -axis. Since reflection in the y axis
interchanges the two lines x = ± ea (and the points (ae, 0) and
(−ae, 0)), this explains why the ellipse has two equivalent
descriptions.
(b) The ellipse is also symmetric about the x-axis.
(c) The ellipse only has solutions when |x| ≤ a and |y | ≤ b, so it lies
inside a rectangle of width 2a and height 2b.
(d) Since b < a, the height of the ellipse is less than its width.
(e) The circle can be regarded as a degenerate ellipse, corresponding to
the case a = b. But it does not have a description in terms of a
directrix.