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Steiner Ellipse

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31 views2 pages

Steiner Ellipse

Uploaded by

amarismono7
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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38

Finding the Steiner inellipse using complex numbers [35 marks].

1. [Maximum marks: 35]

The Steiner inellipse (pictured above) is the unique ellipse, which is tangent to the 3
midpoints of a triangle. We will explore a method of finding the equation of this ellipse
using Marden’s theorem.

(a) We start with a cubic equation: ! ! = ! ! − ! ! + ! − 1. Write this in the form


! ! = (! − !)(! ! + !" + !) where !"ℝ. Hence find the 3 roots of ! ! .
[7]

(b) Draw a sketch of these 3 roots on an Argand diagram. Join these 3 roots to
make a triangle. Label this triangle with points F,G,H. Find the coordinates of
the midpoints of the sides of this triangle. Label these as C, D, E on the sketch.
[3]

(c) Solve !′ ! = 0. Sketch these coordinates A, B on the Argand diagram.


[6]

We now treat our diagram as the real Cartesian x,y plane. Marden’s theorem states
that the coordinates A and B form the foci of the unique ellipse tangent to the triangle
FGH at its midpoints C,D,E. This is illustrated at the top of the page. When A and B
have coordinates (ℎ, ±!) we have the following equation for our ellipse:

(! − ℎ)! ! !
+ !=1
!! !
Where:
!! − !! = ! ! .

(d) Find ! !"# ! and hence find the equation for this ellipse.

[7]

Copyright Andrew Chambers 2020. Licensed for non-commercial use only. Visit
ibmathsresources.com to download the full worked mark-scheme and for 300 exploration ideas.
39

(e) Show that the equation of the ellipse tangent to the midpoints of the triangle
with vertices (0,2), (0,-2), (2,0) is given by:

!
4 2
!! = −3 !−
3 3

[8]

(f) Find the gradient of the ellipse at (1,1) and (1,-1). Comment on your answer.

[4]

Copyright Andrew Chambers 2020. Licensed for non-commercial use only. Visit
ibmathsresources.com to download the full worked mark-scheme and for 300 exploration ideas.

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