Conics Please (1 Viewer)

conics2008

Active Member
Joined
Mar 26, 2008
Messages
1,228
Gender
Male
HSC
2005
Pluvia: Conics stop deleting this thread, even if you don't benefit other people might

This is the question.

The chord y=mx+c meets the ellipse x^2/16 + y^2 =1 at P and Q.

i) Find the midpoint M of PQ.

I started off by finding those two points by subbin in y=mx+c into y^2 and then making it look like quadratic and then finding the x values etc etc.. but answer is way different.

I got an equation (1+16m^2)x^2+(32mc)x+16(c^2-1)=0



x= -16mc+4root 16m^2+1-c^2/16m^2+1

x= -16-4root 16m^2+1-c^2/16m^2 +1

these are my x coord of P and Q ....

finding y we must sub x into y=mx+c

coord of P ( -16mc+4root 16m^2+1-c^2 / 16m^2+1 , 4mroot 16m^2+1-c^2 +c / 16m^2 +1 )

its a long coordinate.

now the other one Q its the same but has - sign for the root

hence midpoint is plus x1 and x2 /2

the mid point for x is -16/16m^2+1 :mad:

bloody hell this is the answer i keep getting.. where am i going wrong..

and y i get c/16m^2+1

Thank you.
 
Last edited by a moderator:

roadrage75

Member
Joined
Feb 20, 2007
Messages
107
Gender
Male
HSC
2007
im not really sure what your doing.... but this is what i'd do:

after you have found this equation: (1+16m^2)x^2+(32mc)x+16(c^2-1)=0

finding the x- midpoints is easy. use sum of roots/2. ie (-b/a)/2. so the mid x point is this: -16mc/(1+16m^2) and then r sub it into the equation of the line: ie y = mx + c
 

midifile

Na Na Na Na Naa
Joined
Oct 11, 2006
Messages
1,143
Location
Sydney
Gender
Female
HSC
2008
conics2008 said:
This is the question.

The chord y=mx+c meets the ellipse x^2/16 + y^2 =1 at P and Q.

i) Find the midpoint M of PQ.

I started off by finding those two points by subbin in y=mx+c into y^2 and then making it look like quadratic and then finding the x values etc etc.. but answer is way different.

I got an equation (1+16m^2)x^2+(32mc)x+16(c^2-1)=0



x= -16mc+4root 16m^2+1-c^2/16m^2+1

x= -16-4root 16m^2+1-c^2/16m^2 +1

these are my x coord of P and Q ....

finding y we must sub x into y=mx+c

coord of P ( -16mc+4root 16m^2+1-c^2 / 16m^2+1 , 4mroot 16m^2+1-c^2 +c / 16m^2 +1 )

its a long coordinate.

now the other one Q its the same but has - sign for the root

hence midpoint is plus x1 and x2 /2

the mid point for x is -16/16m^2+1 :mad:

bloody hell this is the answer i keep getting.. where am i going wrong..

and y i get c/16m^2+1

Thank you.
I think an easier way to find the midpoint would be to sub y=mx+c into the equation of the ellipse and rearrange to get a quadratic. You can then find the x-value of the midpoint by dividing the sum of roots (-b/a) by 2. Then sub this in to find the y value.

I havent actually tried this because I cant be bothered (i'm totally mathed out from two exams), but see if it works.

EDIT: Oh I just realised that roadrage already suggested this :p
 

conics2008

Active Member
Joined
Mar 26, 2008
Messages
1,228
Gender
Male
HSC
2005
hey yeah i was thinking about sum of roots.. because those were my 2 x coordniate but i didn't want to take a risk, because i iddn't know it would work.. soo the answer is correct. thanks all
 
Joined
Mar 26, 2008
Messages
109
Location
Milton NSW
Gender
Male
HSC
2008
conics2008 u need to have a really good look at yourself. your name is conics and you ask a conics question. what is doing?
 
Joined
Feb 6, 2007
Messages
628
Location
Terrigal
Gender
Male
HSC
2008
RiSeAgAiNSt2538 said:
conics2008 u need to have a really good look at yourself. your name is conics and you ask a conics question. what is doing?
was thinkin the same thing
 

conics2008

Active Member
Joined
Mar 26, 2008
Messages
1,228
Gender
Male
HSC
2005
I got the answer right hello.. just wanted to make sure of it..

i actuallly looked at a different answer. ( silly me )

=] its all good sorry about the false alarm.
 

qmaz

Member
Joined
Mar 1, 2007
Messages
35
Gender
Male
HSC
2008
conics2008, wtf is wrong with you

1. you like conics
2. you cant even read the back of the book
3. you like conics
 

Slidey

But pieces of what?
Joined
Jun 12, 2004
Messages
6,600
Gender
Male
HSC
2005
Protip: conics2008 is a troll account
 

Affinity

Active Member
Joined
Jun 9, 2003
Messages
2,062
Location
Oslo
Gender
Undisclosed
HSC
2003
wouldn't happen to be slidey would it? someone check ips
 

conics2008

Active Member
Joined
Mar 26, 2008
Messages
1,228
Gender
Male
HSC
2005
LoLzzz Pulavia lol i just read that thing on top lol.. never really thought about this hahha..


I always delete my threads lol.. its just like my working out. i throw them in the bin when i finish class. I dont really have a book for maths. i just grab some scrap papers and do them there. also most of my working out are done on the board. lol..

funny guys lol..
 

Slidey

But pieces of what?
Joined
Jun 12, 2004
Messages
6,600
Gender
Male
HSC
2005
Affinity said:
wouldn't happen to be slidey would it? someone check ips
And here I thought you were in touch with reality.
 

Users Who Are Viewing This Thread (Users: 0, Guests: 1)

Top