Name:_______________________ Date assigned:______________ Band:________

Precalculus | Packer Collegiate Institute

Circles & Ellipses

Warm Up: Sketch the graphs below. [This is going to get you thinking about our next topic, parabolas.]
2
2 y x = +


2
2 x y = +


( )
2
2 3 y x = +


( )
2
2 3 x y = +



The graphs on the left and on the right are: _________________________________ because:
9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
8
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
x
y
9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
8
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
x
y
9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
8
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
x
y
9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
8
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
x
y
Section 1: Circles and Ellipses
1. We know the equation for a unit circle is
2 2
1 x y + = . Graph that on the grid below.
2. When we write
2
2
1
1
2
x y
| |
|
\ .
+ = , we see that the
1
2
is affecting the [circle one: x / y ] coordinate.
The x- intercepts of this are going to be: ___________ and ____________.
The y-intercepts of this are going to be: ___________ and ____________.

We see that it is secretly a circle which is [stretched / shrunk ] in the __________ direction. Graph it below.

3. When we write
( )
2
2
2 1 x y + = , we see that the 2 is affecting the [circle one: x / y ] coordinate.

The x- intercepts of this are going to be: ___________ and ____________.
The y-intercepts of this are going to be: ___________ and ____________.

We see that it is secretly a circle which is [stretched / shrunk ] in the __________ direction. Graph it below.

Graph this on the grid below.
4. When we write
( )
2
2 1
3 1
4
y x
| |
|
+
.
=
\
, we see that the
1
4
is affecting the [circle one: x / y ] coordinate and the 3
is affecting the [circle one: x / y ] coordinate.

The x- intercepts of this are going to be: ___________ and ____________.
The y-intercepts of this are going to be: ___________ and ____________.

We see that it is secretly a circle which is [stretched / shrunk ] in the __________ direction and
[stretched / shrunk ] in the __________ direction. Graph it below.











These oval shapes are called ellipses. When centered at the origin, their standard form is written:
2 2
1
x y | |
|
\
| |
+ =
|
. \ .
,
where and are numbers. Because of that, you know a circle is a special type of ellipse (just as a square is a special
type of rectangle).

This form is quite nice because you can read off x- and y-intercepts easily. Try to find the x- and y-intercepts for
2 2
1
1/ 4 3
x y | |

| |
+ =
|
\
|
\ . .
. The x-intercepts are: ____ and _____. The y-intercepts are ____and ____.

Then decide if the ellipse is going to look more like or . .
See if you can rewrite the following in standard ellipse form. List the x- and y- intercepts.
1.
2 2
1
(2 ) ( ) 1
3
x x + =









circle one:
2.
2 2
1
16 1
25
y x + =









circle one:
3.
2 2
9 9 x y + =









circle one:
4.
2 2
9 2 1 x y + =









circle one:
5.
2 2
2 16 9 x y + =










circle one:
6.
2 2
6 7 13 x y + =










circle one:
7. The most amazing property of ellipses! Watch this! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7UD8hOs-vaI

Make your own!
(a) What do you conjecture will
happen to the ellipse if the string
length stayed the same but the two
pins/toothpicks get further and
further apart?
(b) What do you conjecture will
happen to the ellipse if the string
length stayed the same but the two
pins/toothpicks got closer and closer
together?
(c) What do you conjecture will
happen to the ellipise if the strength
length stayed the same but the two
pins/toothpicks were practically on
top of each other?












8. Look at the diagram below. What is the length of the string that you need to draw the ellipse below?










Length of String!: ___________________________ Length of String!: ___________________________


Now for this ellipse, what would the length of
the string that generated the ellipse be?
Defend your answer.




Heres a vocabulary word The two points which are pinned down to generate the ellipse are called the foci (singular:
focus). We dont have a vocabulary word for the length of the string, so lets agree to call it the string length (I know, I
know, hard to remember)
8. Can you somehow explain/justify the statement that the string length is the length of the longer diameter of
the ellipse (what mathematicians fancily call the major axis)? If you get stuck and need a bit of help, look at this
footnote and use this diagram below.
1


Now figure out a way to find where the foci are on the x-axis for the ellipse above. If you need help, but only if you need
help, use the footnote hint here.
2












1
Have the string go to one of the points on the ellipse on the x-axis.
2
Okay, fine. You want a hint? Fine. You know the total length of the string. And youve come up with a variable to represent the two
foci points Lets call these foci (c,0) and (-c,0). Now calculate the length of the string when the string hits the y-intercept! That
should be the same as the length of the string that you calculated above. Because the string length is constant.
Problems: Find the foci of the following ellipses.
1.

2.
2 2
1
2 7
x y | | | |
+ =
| |
\ . \ .
[Hint: you need to draw a picture first always!]













3.
2 2
2 16 9 x y + =









Extra Practice of these types (#1-#3) from Sullivan: Section 10.3#13-38
4. You know that
2 2
1
1
4 3
x y | | | |
+ =
| |
\ . \ .
will look identical to
2 2
1
4 3
x y | | | |
+ =
| |
\ . \ .
except for the following
transformation:


5. The following is a circle. Put it in standard form. Find the center and radius.
2 2
6 8 1 x x y y + + + =





6. The following is an ellipse but with a slight transformation. Find the x-intercepts, the y-intercepts, and the
center.
2 2
2 2 8 1 x x y y + + + = .[Extra Practice of these types from Sullivan: Section 10.3#43-54]








7. You know in polar that
1
1
1 cos
2
r
u
=

is an ellipse. Convert this polar equation to a rectangular equation, and

find the x-intercepts, the y-intercepts, and the center!
3
This is a challenging problem but its just algebra.










3
Hint: You got the answer right if you have
2 2
2 / 3
1
4 / 3 2 / 3
x y | | | |
+ =
| |
\ . \ .
.