iwfc87 Posted August 28, 2005 Share Posted August 28, 2005 Hey all... Got this math problem. I've attached a the problem below and what I think the question looks like below. Other than that, I'm lost. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigMoosie Posted August 28, 2005 Share Posted August 28, 2005 First off, you drew the line horizontally rather than vertically. To find the distance between two points use this formula: [math]d = \sqrt{(x_0 - x_1)^2 + (y_0 - y_1)^2}[/math] In your case: [math]d_F = \sqrt{(x-1)^2 + y^2}[/math] And use the absolute value to get the horizontal distane: [math]d = | x_0 - x_1 |[/math] And in your case: [math]d_L = | x+1 |[/math] Is this clear? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iwfc87 Posted August 29, 2005 Author Share Posted August 29, 2005 Yes it is. Thanks a lot. I was jsut utterly confused with the question. And the graph thing..whoops..my bad. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iwfc87 Posted August 29, 2005 Author Share Posted August 29, 2005 Apparently the equation [math]d_L /d_F= e [/math] should be an eclipse. I haven't quite got that. I get something nasty and gross looking like the equation below; which isn't quite an eclipse upon plotting. Have I done somehting wrong here :S? (plot is when e=1). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gnpatterson Posted August 29, 2005 Share Posted August 29, 2005 e=1 is a special case, if you plot some other values you will see other conic sections. The form of the equation _is_ that of an ellipse, if you have to, you can rearrange it into the cannonical form. Do you remember the trick of completing the square? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iwfc87 Posted August 31, 2005 Author Share Posted August 31, 2005 Well I do, but I'm not sure how to apply it here. I've attached what I've done. From then on, I'm clueless. I'm trying to get it in the standard form of (x+c/a)^2+(y+d/b)^2=1. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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