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Sheet 3

1) The document provides instructions on finding equations for various conic sections including ellipses, hyperbolas, and parabolas given information about their foci, directrices, or asymptotes. 2) It also discusses properties of parabolas including the relationship between the gradient of the curve and the angle formed by the tangent line and a line connecting a point on the curve to the focus. 3) Finally, it asks to show various properties of conic sections formed by intersecting a double cone and a plane, including identifying the type of conic section, its eccentricity, foci and directrices.

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Philip Patterson
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68 views1 page

Sheet 3

1) The document provides instructions on finding equations for various conic sections including ellipses, hyperbolas, and parabolas given information about their foci, directrices, or asymptotes. 2) It also discusses properties of parabolas including the relationship between the gradient of the curve and the angle formed by the tangent line and a line connecting a point on the curve to the focus. 3) Finally, it asks to show various properties of conic sections formed by intersecting a double cone and a plane, including identifying the type of conic section, its eccentricity, foci and directrices.

Uploaded by

Philip Patterson
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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GEOMETRY – SHEET 3 – Conics

1. Find the equations in Cartesian co-ordinates of:

(i) the ellipse with foci at (±2, 0) which passes through (0, 1);

(ii) the hyperbola with asymptotes y = ±2x and directrices x = ±1;

(iii) the ellipse consisting of all points P such that |AP | + |BP | = 10, where A is (3, 0) and B is (−3, 0);

(iv) the parabola with directrix x + y = 1 and focus (−1, −1).


√
[Hint: the point (x0 , y0 ) is at a distance |ax0 + by0 + c| / a2 + b2 from the line ax + by + c = 0.]

2. Consider the parabola C with equation y 2 = 4ax and let point P = (at2 , 2at). What is the gradient of C at P in
terms of t?

The focus F is at (a, 0). Let l1 denote the line connecting P and F, and θ1 denote the angle between l1 and the
tangent to C at P . Show that
t
cos θ1 = √ .
2
t +1
Let l2 denote the horizontal line through P and θ2 denote the angle between l2 and the tangent to C at P . Show
that θ1 = θ2 . (Consequently any light beam emitted from the focus F will reflect horizontally after contact with a
parabolic mirror.)

3. (i) The conic C is formed by intersecting the double cone x2 + y 2 = z 2 with the plane x + y + z = 1. Show that
the point with position vector
√ √ √
r(t) = (1 + (sec t − tan t)/ 2, 1 + (sec t + tan t)/ 2, −1 − 2 sec t)

lies on C.
√ √ p √ √
(ii) Show that the vectors e1 = (1/ 6, 1/ 6, − 2/3) and e2 = (−1/ 2, 1/ 2, 0) are of unit length, are perpendicular
to one another and are parallel to the plane x + y + z = 1. Show further that

r(t) = (1, 1, −1) + (a sec t)e1 + (b tan t)e2

where a and b are positive numbers to be determined.


√
(iii) Show that C has eccentricity 2/ 3, has foci (1, 1, −1) ± 2e1 and that the directrices, in parametric form, are
(1, 1, −1) ± 3e1 /2 + λe2 .

4. By rotating the xy-axes appropriately, and subsequently completing the squares, show that the curve

6x2 + 4xy + 9y 2 − 12x − 4y − 4 = 0,

is an ellipse and find its area.

5. Let v and w be independent vectors in R2 . Show that

r(t) = v cos t + w sin t,

where 0 6 t < 2π, is a parametrization of an ellipse.

6. (Optional ) Let P be a point on an ellipse with foci F1 and F2 . Show that the two lines F1 P and F2 P make the
same angle with the normal to the ellipse.
This means that if you are playing billiards on an elliptical table, with a pocket on one focus and the ball placed
on the other focus, every shot will go in! (Assuming it is hit sufficiently hard.) Click here for a cool YouTube video
showing this.
Consider: is there a related statement for a hyperbola?

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