Module 4: Families of Curves

An equation involving a parameter, as well as one or both of the coordinates of a point in a

plane, may represent a family of curves, one curve corresponding to each value of the parameter.
For instance, the equation
 x  c    y  c   2c2 eq1
2 2

or
x2  y 2  2c  x  y   0 eq2
may be interpreted as the equation of a family of circles, each having its center on the line y  x
and each passing through the origin. Figure 1 shows several elements, or members, of this
family.

Figure 1

If the constant c in equation (1) or in equation (2) is treated as an arbitrary constant and
eliminated as in the preceding section, the result is called the differential equation of the family
represented by equation (1). In this example, the elimination of c is easily performed by
isolating c, then differentiating throughout the equation with respect to x . Thus, from
x2  y 2
 2c
x y
we find that
 x  y  2 xdx  2 ydy    x 2  y 2   dx  dy 
0
 x  y
2

Therefore
x 2
 2 xy  y 2  dx   x 2  2 xy  y 2  dy  0 eq3

is the differential equation of the family of circles represented by equation ( 1).

Note that equation (3) associates a definite slope with each point (x, y) in the plane
 dy x 2  2 xy  y 2
 eq4
dx x 2  2 xy  y 2
except where the denominator on the right in equation (4) vanishes. When the denominator
vanishes, the curve passing through that point must have a vertical tangent. From
x 2  2 xy  y 2  0

we see that
 
y  1  2 x eq5
or
 
y  1  2 x eq6

In Figure 2, the straight lines (5) and (6) appear along with the family (1). It is seen that the lines
(5) and (6) cut the members of the family of circles in precisely those points of vertical tangency.

Figure 2

For a two-parameter family of curves, the differential equation will be of order two, and such a
simple geometric interpretation is not available.
Problem 3.1. Find the differential equation of the family of parabolas (Figure 3), having their
vertices at the origin and their foci on the y -axis.

Figure 3

Solution
An equation of this family of parabolas is
y  ax 2
so that
y  2ax

It follows that
xy  2 y  0
is the differential equation of the family. We note that (9) is a first-order linear differential
equation.
Problem 3.2. Find the differential equation of the family of circles (Figure 4) having their centers
on the y -axis.

Figure 4

Because a member of the family of circles of this example may have its center anywhere on the
y-axis and its radius of any magnitude, we are dealing with the two-parameter family
x2   y  b   r 2
2

We shall eliminate both band rand obtain a second-order differential equation for the family
At once
x   y  b  y  0
which
x  yy
b
y

Then
y 1  yy   y    y  x  yy 
2
  0
 y 
2

so, the desired differential equation is

xy   y   y  0
3
Problem 3.3: Determine the differential equation for the family of curves defined by the equation
y  e xc

Solution
Differentiating the given equation with respect to x gives:
y  e x c

We can easily eliminate the parameter C from the system of equations:

y  e x c
y  e xc

As a result, we obtain the following simplest homogeneous equation:

y  y
y  y  0

Problem 3.4: Derive the differential equation for the family of plane curves defined by the
equation y  x 2  cx
Solution.
We differentiate the implicit equation with respect to x
y  2 x  c

Write this equation jointly with the original algebraic equation and eliminate the parameter c
y  2 x  c
y  x 2  cx

Eliminating c
c  y  2 x
y  x 2   y  2 x  x
y  x 2  yx  2 x 2
yx  y  3x 2

As a result, we obtain the implicit differential equation corresponding to the given family of
plane curves.
Problem 3.5: Write the corresponding differential equation for the family of plane curves defined
by the equation y  cot  x  c 
Solution.
By differentiating the given equation with respect to x we obtain:
1
y   2
sin  x  c 

Notice that
1  y 2  1  cot 2  x  c 
cos 2  x  c 
 1
sin 2  x  c 
sin 2  x  c   cos 2  x  c 

sin 2  x  c 
1
1 y2 
sin  x  c 
2

Therefore, we can write

y   1  y 2 

Hence, we get the following differential equation describing the given family of curves:
y  1  y 2
y  y 2  1
 1
Problem 3.6: A family of curves given by the expression y  cos  cx    , where c and  is
c
an arbitrary angle. Determine the differential equation for this family of plane curves.
Solution.
First, we differentiate the equation with respect to the variable x assuming that y
is a function of x

y 
1
c
  sin  cx     c
  sin  cx   

Eliminate c from the system of two equations:

y   sin  cx   
1
y  cos  cx   
c

To make this we square both sides of the equation and then add them together:
 y  sin 2  cx   
2

1
y2  2
cos 2  cx   
c
 y   c2 y 2  1
2

Simplifying
c 2 y 2  1   y 
2

1   y 
2

c 
2

y2
1   y 
2

c
y

Inserting the found expression for c into the differential equation, we have:
y   sin  cx   
 x 1   y 2 
y   sin   
 y 
 
Exercise 3.1
In each exercise, obtain the differential equation of the family of plane curves described and
sketch several representative members of the family.
1. Straight lines through the origin.
2. Straight lines through the fixed point (h, k ) ; h and k not to be eliminated.
3. Straight lines with slope and y-intercept equal.
4. Straight lines with slope and x-intercept equal.
5. Straight lines with algebraic sum of the intercepts fixed as k .
6. Straight lines at a fixed distance p from the origin.
7. Circles with center at the origin.
8. Circles with center on the x-axis.
9. Circles with fixed radius r and tangent to the x -axis.
10. Circles tangent to the x-axis.
11. Circles with center on the line y   x , and passing through the origin.
12. Circles of radius unity. Use the fact that the radius of curvature is 1.
13. All circles. Use the curvature.
14. Parabolas with vertex on the x-axis, with axis parallel to the y-axis, and with distance from
focus to vertex fixed as a .
15. Parabolas with vertex on the y-axis, with axis parallel to the x-axis, and with distance from
focus to vertex fixed as a .
16. Parabolas with axis parallel to the y-axis and with distance from vertex to focus fixed as a .
17. Parabolas with axis parallel to the x-axis and with distance from vertex to focus fixed as a .