Pre-Calculus: ELLIPSE

1st Quarter

Background Information:

The shape of the eye of a typhoon is usually circular, but did you know
that it tends to become elliptical when the typhoon passes over land?

The long axis of the ellipse is in the direction of translation or the forward
motion of the typhoon. Elliptically shaped eyes sometimes reach 90
miles or approximately 145 km in diameter.

More of ELLIPSE

The area of an ellipse is 𝜋𝑎𝑏.

If it is a circle, then 𝑎 and 𝑏 are equal to the radius, and you get 𝜋𝑟 2.

In fact, a Circle is an Ellipse, where both foci are at the same point, the center.

In other words, a circle is a "special case" of an ellipse.

Discussion:

Ellipse is the locus of a point in a plane which moves such that the sum of its
distances from two fixed points is constant.

* Locus is a set of points that share a property.

Focus, F and focus, G are called foci and the distance 𝑓 + 𝑔 is always a constant
of the same value.

In other words, when you go from point "F" to any point on the ellipse and then go
on to point "G", you will always travel the same distance.

Terms to remember:

• foci, F are the two fixed points.

• major axis, MA is the segment cut by the ellipse on the
line containing the foci.
• MA, major axis is also a segment joining the two
vertices of an ellipse of length equal to the absolute
value of 2a.
• minor axis, ma is the segment perpendicular to the
major axis passing through the center of an ellipse.
• ma, minor axis is equal to the absolute value of 2b.
• diameters are the chords of an ellipse that pass through the center.
• vertices, V are the endpoints of the diameter through the foci. It is also the endpoints major axis.
• latus rectum, LR is the segment cut by the ellipse passing through the foci and perpendicular to the major
axis.
• eccentricity, e of an ellipse is the ratio of the focal distance, c, to the semi-major axis, a.
Facts:

1. |𝑎| = is the distance from the center, C to the vertex, V.

2. |𝑎| = is the length of the semi-major axis.
3. |𝑏| = is the length of the semi minor axis.
4. |𝑐| = is the distance from the center, C to the focus, F (focal
distance).
5. |2𝑎| = is the length of the major axis.
6. |2𝑏| = is the length of the minor axis.
7. Vertices and foci lie on the major axis.
8. The ellipse is symmetrical to the major, minor axes and the center.
𝑎2
9. The distance of directrix, D from the center C(h, k) is .
𝑐

IMPORTANT RELATIONS:

1. 𝑎 > 𝑏, 𝑎 > 𝑐
2. 𝑎2 = 𝑏 2 + 𝑐 2
𝑐
3. 𝑒 =
𝑎
2𝑏 2
4. 𝐿𝑅 =
𝑎

Standard Equations of an Ellipse

(𝒙 − 𝒉)𝟐 (𝒚 − 𝒌)𝟐
1. Center at C(h, k), Horizontal Major Axis : + = 𝟏
𝒂𝟐 𝒃𝟐

(𝒙 − 𝒉)𝟐 (𝒚 − 𝒌)𝟐
2. Center at C(h, k), Vertical Major Axis : + = 𝟏
𝒃𝟐 𝒂𝟐

𝒙𝟐 𝒚𝟐
3. Center at the Origin, Horizontal Major Axis : + = 𝟏
𝒂𝟐 𝒃𝟐

𝒙𝟐 𝒚𝟐
4. Center at Origin, Vertical Major Axis : + = 𝟏
𝒃𝟐 𝒂𝟐

General Equation of an Ellipse

𝑨𝒙 𝟐 + 𝑪𝒚𝟐 + 𝑫𝒙 + 𝑬𝒚 + 𝑭 = 𝟎, 𝑤ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝐴 ≠ 𝐶 𝑏𝑢𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑎𝑚𝑒 𝑠𝑖𝑔𝑛

REMEMBER that the general equation of the ellipse is the expanded form of its standard equation.
Ellipse center at C(h, k), Horizontal Major Axis and Vertical Major Axis (Other perspective)
Ellipse center at origin, C(0, 0), Horizontal Major Axis and Vertical Major Axis

Example:
1. Reduce the general equation of the ellipse to its standard form. Determine the properties of ellipse by:

identifying (a) the axis of the ellipse,

finding (b) the length of the semi-major axis, a
(c) the length of the semi-minor axis, b
(d) the coordinate of the center, C (h, k)
(e) the length of the focal distance, c
(f) the eccentricity of ellipse, e
(g) the length of the major axis, MA
(h) the length of the minor axis, ma
(i) the length of the latus rectum, LR
(j) the equation of the directrices, D1 and D2
(k) the coordinates of vertices, V1 and V2
(l) the coordinates of the foci, F1 and F2 and
(m) the coordinates of the endpoints of the latera recta,

a. 25𝑥 2 + 169𝑦 2 − 4225 = 0

𝑆𝑜𝑙𝑛:
25𝑥 2 + 169𝑦 2 = 4225 𝐵𝑦 𝑖𝑛𝑠𝑝𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛:
25𝑥 2 169𝑦 2 4225 a. 𝒉𝒐𝒓𝒊𝒛𝒐𝒏𝒕𝒂𝒍 𝒎𝒂𝒋𝒐𝒓 𝒂𝒙𝒊𝒔, 𝑯𝑴𝑨
+ =
4225 4225 4225
b. 𝒂 = 𝟏𝟑
𝒙𝟐 𝒚𝟐
+ =𝟏 𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒏𝒅𝒂𝒓𝒅 𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒎 c. 𝒃 = 𝟓
𝟏𝟔𝟗 𝟐𝟓
𝑥2 𝑦2 𝑵𝒐𝒕𝒆: 𝒂 > 𝒃
+ =1
132 52
d. C (0, 0)
𝐾𝑛𝑜𝑤𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑖𝑚𝑝𝑜𝑟𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑡 𝑟𝑒𝑙𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑜𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑡𝑖𝑒𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝑒𝑙𝑙𝑖𝑝𝑠𝑒,
𝑓𝑜𝑐𝑎𝑙 𝑑𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑒: 𝑒𝑐𝑐𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑟𝑖𝑐𝑖𝑡𝑦: 𝑚𝑎𝑗𝑜𝑟 𝑎𝑥𝑖𝑠: 𝑚𝑖𝑛𝑜𝑟 𝑎𝑥𝑖𝑠: 𝑙𝑎𝑡𝑢𝑠 𝑟𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑢𝑚: 𝑑𝑖𝑟𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑟𝑖𝑐𝑒𝑠:
𝑎2
𝐷1 : 𝑥 = ℎ −
𝑎2 = 𝑏 2 + 𝑐 2 𝑐 𝑀𝐴 = 2𝑎 𝑚𝑎 = 2𝑏 2𝑏 2 𝑐
𝑒 = 𝐿𝑅 =
𝑎 𝑎 169
𝑐 2 = 𝑎2 − 𝑏 2 𝑀𝐴 = 2(13) 𝑚𝑎 = 2(5) 𝐷1 : 𝑥 = 0 −
𝟏𝟐 2(5)2 12
𝑐 2 = 132 − 52 𝒆 = 𝑴𝑨 = 𝟐𝟔 𝒎𝒂 = 𝟏𝟎 𝐿𝑅 =
𝟏𝟑 13 𝟏𝟔𝟗
𝑫𝟏: 𝒙 = −
𝑐 2 = 169 − 25 𝑒 ≈ 0.92 𝟏𝟐
𝟓𝟎
𝑳𝑹 =
𝑐 2 = 144 𝟏𝟑
𝒄 = 𝟏𝟐 𝑵𝒐𝒕𝒆: 𝐿𝑅 ≈ 3.85 𝑎2
𝐷2 : 𝑥 = ℎ +
𝑐
𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒆𝒍𝒍𝒊𝒑𝒔𝒆;
169
𝑵𝒐𝒕𝒆: 𝒂 > 𝒄 𝒆<𝟏 𝐷2 : 𝑥 = 0 +
12
𝟏𝟔𝟗
𝑫𝟐: 𝒙 =
𝟏𝟐
𝟏𝟔𝟗
j. 𝑫𝟏: 𝒙 = −
𝟏𝟐 𝟓𝟎 𝟏𝟐
e. 𝒄 = 𝟏𝟐 f. 𝒆 = g. 𝑴𝑨 = 𝟐𝟔 h. 𝒎𝒂 = 𝟏𝟎 i. 𝑳𝑹 =
𝟏𝟑 𝟏𝟑 𝟏𝟔𝟗
𝑫𝟐: 𝒙 =
𝟏𝟐

𝑆𝑘𝑒𝑡𝑐ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑔𝑟𝑎𝑝ℎ

(𝑏𝑎𝑠𝑒𝑑 𝑜𝑛 𝒂 𝑡𝑜 𝒋)
b=5

½ LR = 25/13
a = 13 a = 13
c = 12 c = 12 LR = 50/13
½ LR = 25/13
b=5

D1: x = −169/12 D2: x = 169/12

𝐵𝑎𝑠𝑒𝑑 𝑜𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑔𝑟𝑎𝑝ℎ, 𝑤𝑒 𝑐𝑎𝑛 𝑒𝑎𝑠𝑖𝑙𝑦 𝑖𝑑𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑖𝑓𝑦 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑓𝑓.

k. 𝑽𝟏(−𝟏𝟑, 𝟎), 𝑽𝟐(𝟏𝟑, 𝟎)
l. 𝑭𝟏(−𝟏𝟐, 𝟎), 𝑭𝟐(𝟏𝟐, 𝟎)
m. 𝑬𝒏𝒅𝒑𝒐𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒔 𝒐𝒇 𝑳𝑹
𝟐𝟓 𝟐𝟓
(−𝟏𝟐, ) , (𝟏𝟐, )
𝟏𝟑 𝟏𝟑
𝟐𝟓 𝟐𝟓
(−𝟏𝟐, − ) , (𝟏𝟐, − )
𝟏𝟑 𝟏𝟑
b. 16𝑥 2 + 4𝑦 2 − 32𝑥 + 16𝑦 − 32 = 0
𝑆𝑜𝑙𝑛:
16𝑥 2 + 4𝑦 2 − 32𝑥 + 16𝑦 − 32 = 0 𝐵𝑦 𝑖𝑛𝑠𝑝𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛:
16𝑥 2 − 32𝑥 + 4𝑦 2 + 16𝑦 = 32 a. 𝑽𝑴𝑨
16(𝑥 2 − 2𝑥 + 1) + 4(𝑦 2 + 4𝑦 + 4) = 32 + (16)(1) + (4)(4)
b. 𝒂 = 𝟒
2 2
16(𝑥 − 1) + 4(𝑦 + 2) = 32 + 16 + 16
c. 𝒃 = 𝟐
2 2
16(𝑥 − 1) + 4(𝑦 + 2) = 64
𝑵𝒐𝒕𝒆: 𝒂 > 𝒃
16(𝑥 − 1)2 4(𝑦 + 2)2 64
+ =
64 64 64 d. C (1, −2)
(𝒙 − 𝟏)𝟐 (𝒚 + 𝟐)𝟐
+ = 𝟏 𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒏𝒅𝒂𝒓𝒅 𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒎
𝟒 𝟏𝟔
𝐾𝑛𝑜𝑤𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑖𝑚𝑝𝑜𝑟𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑡 𝑟𝑒𝑙𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑜𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑡𝑖𝑒𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝑒𝑙𝑙𝑖𝑝𝑠𝑒,
𝑓𝑜𝑐𝑎𝑙 𝑑𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑒: 𝑒𝑐𝑐𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑟𝑖𝑐𝑖𝑡𝑦: 𝑚𝑎𝑗𝑜𝑟 𝑎𝑥𝑖𝑠: 𝑚𝑖𝑛𝑜𝑟 𝑎𝑥𝑖𝑠: 𝑙𝑎𝑡𝑢𝑠 𝑟𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑢𝑚: 𝑑𝑖𝑟𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑟𝑖𝑐𝑒𝑠:
𝑎2
𝐷1 : 𝑦 = 𝑘 −
𝑎2 = 𝑏 2 + 𝑐 2 𝑐 𝑀𝐴 = 2𝑎 𝑚𝑎 = 2𝑏 2𝑏 2 𝑐
𝑒 = 𝐿𝑅 = 16
𝑎 𝑎 𝐷1 : 𝑦 = −2 −
𝑐2 = 𝑎2 − 𝑏2 𝑀𝐴 = 2(4) 𝑚𝑎 = 2(2) 2√3
2√3 2(2)2
𝑐 2 = 42 − 22 𝑒 = 𝑴𝑨 = 𝟖 𝒎𝒂 = 𝟒 𝐿𝑅 = 𝟖
4 𝑫𝟏 : 𝒚 = −𝟐 −
4 √𝟑
2
𝑐 = 16 − 4
√𝟑 𝑳𝑹 = 𝟐 𝐷1 : 𝑦 ≈ −6.62
𝒆 =
𝑐 2 = 12 𝟐
𝑎2
𝒄 = 𝟐√𝟑 𝑒 ≈ 0.87 𝐷2 : 𝑦 = 𝑘 +
𝑐
16
𝑐 ≈ 3.46 𝐷2 : 𝑦 = −2 +
2√3
𝑵𝒐𝒕𝒆:
𝟖
𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒆𝒍𝒍𝒊𝒑𝒔𝒆; 𝑫𝟐 : 𝒚 = −𝟐 +
𝑵𝒐𝒕𝒆: 𝒂 > 𝒄 √𝟑
𝒆<𝟏 𝐷2 : 𝑦 ≈ 2.62
𝟖
j. 𝑫𝟏: 𝒚 = −𝟐 −
√𝟑
√𝟑
e. 𝒄 = 𝟐√𝟑 f. 𝒆 = g. 𝑴𝑨 = 𝟖 h. 𝒎𝒂 = 𝟒 i. 𝑳𝑹 = 𝟐 𝟖
𝟐
𝑫𝟐 : 𝒚 = −𝟐 +
√𝟑

𝑆𝑘𝑒𝑡𝑐ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑔𝑟𝑎𝑝ℎ

(𝑏𝑎𝑠𝑒𝑑 𝑜𝑛 𝒂 𝑡𝑜 𝒋)

𝟖 𝐵𝑎𝑠𝑒𝑑 𝑜𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑔𝑟𝑎𝑝ℎ, 𝑤𝑒 𝑐𝑎𝑛 𝑒𝑎𝑠𝑖𝑙𝑦 𝑖𝑑𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑖𝑓𝑦 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑓𝑓.

𝑫𝟏: 𝒚 = −𝟐 −
√𝟑
k. 𝑽𝟏 (𝟏, 𝟐), 𝑽𝟐 (𝟏, −𝟔)

l. 𝑭𝟏(𝟏, −𝟐 + 𝟐√𝟑), 𝑭𝟐(𝟏, −𝟐 − 𝟐√𝟑)

m. 𝑬𝒏𝒅𝒑𝒐𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒔 𝒐𝒇 𝑳𝑹

(𝟎, −𝟐 + 𝟐√𝟑), (𝟐, −𝟐 + 𝟐√𝟑)

(𝟎, −𝟐 − 𝟐√𝟑), (𝟐, −𝟐 − 𝟐√𝟑)

𝟖
𝑫𝟐 : 𝒚 = −𝟐 +
√𝟑
2. Express the equation, in standard form, of the ellipse that satisfies the given condition.

Recall the Standard Equations of Ellipse

(𝒙 − 𝒉)𝟐 (𝒚 − 𝒌)𝟐
1. + = 𝟏 : Horizontal Major Axis, HMA
𝒂𝟐 𝒃𝟐
(𝒙 − 𝒉)𝟐 (𝒚 − 𝒌)𝟐
2. + = 𝟏 : Vertical Major Axis, VMA
𝒃𝟐 𝒂𝟐

I
n dealing with the standard form of ellipse, it is important to identify the following parameters:
1. Axis of the ellipse whether horizontal or vertical major axis
2. Center, C at (h, k)
3. Length of the semi-major axis, a
4. Length of the semi-minor axis, b

NOTE: In order to easily determine the above parameter, try to visualize or try sketch the graph of the
ellipse base on the given condition.

a. 𝑓𝑜𝑐𝑖 (2, 1) 𝑎𝑛𝑑 (2, −1), 𝑙𝑒𝑛𝑔𝑡ℎ 𝑜𝑓 𝑚𝑎𝑗𝑜𝑟 𝑎𝑥𝑖𝑠 4

by inspection: (𝑥 − ℎ)2 (𝑦 − 𝑘)2
+ = 1
Axis = VMA 𝑎2 = 𝑏 2 + 𝑐 2 𝑏2 𝑎2
C(h, k) = C(2, 0) 𝑏 2 = 𝑎2 − 𝑐 2 (𝑥 − 2)2 (𝑦 − 0)2
a =2 𝑏 2 = 22 − 12 + = 1
3 4
b = 𝑏2 = 3
(𝒙 − 𝟐)𝟐 𝒚𝟐
c =1 𝒃 = √𝟑 + = 𝟏
𝟑 𝟒

b. 𝑐𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝑎𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑜𝑟𝑖𝑔𝑖𝑛, 𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑡𝑒𝑥 𝑎𝑡(0, 4), 𝑒𝑐𝑐𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑟𝑖𝑐𝑖𝑡𝑦 𝑒𝑞𝑢𝑎𝑙𝑠 𝑜𝑛𝑒 − ℎ𝑎𝑙𝑓
by inspection: 𝑐 𝑎2 = 𝑏 2 + 𝑐 2 (𝑥 − ℎ)2 (𝑦 − 𝑘)2
𝑒 = + = 1
𝑎 𝑏 2 = 𝑎2 − 𝑐 2 𝑏2 𝑎2
Axis = VMA
𝑐 = 𝑎𝑒
C(h, k) = C(0, 0) 𝑏 2 = 42 − 22 (𝑥 − 0)2 (𝑦 − 0)2
a =4 𝑐 = 𝑎𝑒 + = 1
𝑏 2 = 12 12 16
b = 1
𝑐 = (4) ( ) 𝒃 = 𝟐√𝟑 𝒙𝟐 𝒚𝟐
2
e =½ + = 𝟏
𝑐 = 2 𝟏𝟐 𝟏𝟔

8
c. 𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑡𝑖𝑐𝑒𝑠 (−5, 0) 𝑎𝑛𝑑 (5, 0), 𝑙𝑒𝑛𝑔𝑡ℎ 𝑜𝑓 𝑙𝑎𝑡𝑢𝑠 𝑟𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑢𝑚 =
5
by inspection: 2𝑏 2 (𝑥 − ℎ)2 (𝑦 − 𝑘)2
𝐿𝑅 = + = 1
Axis = HMA 𝑎 𝑎2 𝑏2
C(h, k) = C(0, 0) 8 2𝑏 2 (𝑥 − 0)2 (𝑦 − 0)2
a =5 = + = 1
5 5 25 4
b =
𝑏2 = 4 𝒙𝟐 𝒚𝟐
+ = 𝟏
𝒃 =𝟐 𝟐𝟓 𝟒

d. 𝑐𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝑎𝑡 (−2, 2), 𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑡𝑒𝑥 𝑎𝑡 (−2, 6), 𝑜𝑛𝑒 𝑒𝑛𝑑𝑝𝑜𝑖𝑛𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝑚𝑖𝑛𝑜𝑟 𝑎𝑥𝑖𝑠 𝑎𝑡 (0, 2)
by inspection:
Axis = VMA (𝑥 − ℎ)2 (𝑦 − 𝑘)2
+ = 1
C(h, k) = C(−2, 2) 𝑏2 𝑎2
a =4 (𝒙 + 𝟐)𝟐 (𝒚 − 𝟐)𝟐
b =2 + = 𝟏
𝟒 𝟏𝟔