1. 12.5
Ellipses and Hyperbolas

2. Conic Sections
Hyperbola
Parabola
Ellipse
Circle

3. General Form Equation of Conic Sections
Parabolas:
Ellipses:
Hyperbolas:

4. Vocabulary Foci: (plural of focus) the fixed points from which the
sum of the distances from these two points to any
point on the ellipes is a constant value.
Focal Axis: the axis that passes thru the 2 foci.
Major Axis: is the same as the focal axis. It is the
longest axis. It is either the x-axis or the y-axis.
Minor Axis: an axis that splits the ellipse into symetrical
halfs and is perpedicular to the major axis.
Vertexes: The points on the ellipse on the main axis.

5. Vocabulary
Ellipse The set of all points in a plane whose distance from
two fixed points in the plane have a constant sum.
P(x,y) d1 d2
x-axis
Center
(0, 0)

6. Ellipses Foci
a2 = b2 + c then solve for c

7. Example: 16x2 + 25y2 = 400
To be able to read any information from this equation, I'll need to rearrange it to get "=1", so I'll divide through by 400. This gives me:
Since x2 = (x – 0)2 and y2 = (y – 0)2, the equation above is really:
Then the center is at (h, k) = (0, 0).
To find the foci, I need to find the value of c. From the equation, I already have a2 and b2, so:
Then the value of c is 3, and the foci are three units to either side of the center, at (–3, 0) and (3, 0).

8. Ellipses Center at (0, 0) Major axis: longest axis
Standard Form Equation
of an ellipse.
Minor axis: shortest axis
y-axis a a
x-axis
Vertex
(a, 0)
Vertex
(-a, 0)
Center
(0, 0)

9. Ellipses Center at (0, 0) Standard Form Equation of an ellipse. y-axisb
x-axis b
Major axis: longest axis
Minor axis: shortest axis

10. Ellipse with Vertex (0, 0) Focal Axis x-axis y-axis:
Standard Equations:
Foci:
Vertexes:
Semi Major Axis: a a
Semi Minor Axis:
Pythagorean relation:

11. Ellipses Center at (0, 0)
Ellipse: the set of all points whose distance
the center is a constant sum.
(0, b)
x-axis
Vertex
(a, 0)
Vertex
(-a, 0)
Focus
(-c, 0)
Center
(0, 0)
Focus
(c, 0)
(0, -b)

12. Ellipses Center at (0, 0) – Hyperbola
Switch the positions of the vertex and focus for Hyperbola.
(0, b)
x-axis
Vertex
(a, 0)
Vertex
(-a, 0)
Focus
(-c, 0)
Center
(0, 0)
Focus
(c, 0)
(0, -b)

13. Hyperbola Center at (0, 0)
Switch the positions of the vertex and focus.
(0, b)
x-axis
Vertex
(-a, 0)
Center
(0, 0)
Focus
(c, 0)
Focus
(-c, 0)
Vertex
(a, 0)
(0, -b)

14. Hyperbola Center at (0, 0)
The minor axis endpoints (0, b) and (0, -b) no longer apply.
(0, b)
x-axis
Vertex
(-a, 0)
Center
(0, 0)
Focus
(c, 0)
Focus
(-c, 0)
Vertex
(a, 0)
(0, -b)

15. Hyperbola Center at (0, 0) The set of all points whose distance from
the center is a constant difference.
Point
(x, y)
x-axis
Center
(0, 0)
Focus
(c, 0)
Focus
(-c, 0)
Vertex
(-a, 0)
Vertex
(a, 0)

16. Equation for a Hyperbola.
You don’t have to derive this.
You should know that the points that come from the equation are all the points whose distance from
two fixed points in the plane have a constant difference.

17. Ellipse Hyperbola. Wow: one is addition, the other is subtraction.
Ellipse: the set of all points whose distance
(from two fixed points) is a constant sum.
Hyperbola: the set of all points whose distance
(from two fixed points) is a constant difference.

18. Pythagorean Relation for: Ellipse Hyperbola.

19. Vocabulary Foci: (plural of focus) the fixed points from which the
sum of the distances from these two points to any point on the hyperbola is a constant value (equal to the transverse axis).
Transverse Axis: the segment connecting the two vertexes
 length = 2a
Semi –Transverse Axis:  length = a
Conjugate Axis: the line segment whose midpoint is the
center point of the hyperbola and which is perpendicular to the transverse axis.  length = 2b
Semi –conjugate Axis:  length = b

20. Your turn:
1. What is the equation of the hyperbola centered at the origin whose transverse axis is on the x-axis and whose semi-transverse axis is 4 units long and whose semi-conjugate axis is 3 units long?

21. Hyperbola Center at (0, 0) x-axis Has two asymptotes Vertex (-a, 0)
Conjugate
Axis
Center
(0, 0)
Vertex
(-a, 0)
x-axis
Vertex
(a, 0)
Focus
(-c, 0)
Focus
(c, 0)
Transverse
Axis

22. Hyperbola with Center (0, 0)
Focal Axis x-axis y-axis:
Standard Equations:
Foci:
Length Semi
Transverse Axis: a a
Vertexes:
Length Semi
Conjugate Axis:
Asymptotes:

23. Find the equation of the hyperbola.
Center: (0, 0)
Semi-transverse axis: (y-axis) length = 5
Semi-conjugate axis: 3
Standard equation is of the form:
Find the foci of a hyperbola.

24. Your turn: for the following equation, find the following information about the hyperbola.
2. Vertexes:
3. Length of the semi-transverse axis.
4. Length of the semi-conjugate axis.
5. Foci:
6. The asymptotes

25. Your turn: 7. Find the equation of the hyperbola from the following information:
Foci: (3, 0), (-3, 0)
Length transverse axis: 4

26. Hyperbola with Center (h, k)
Standard Equations:
Focal Axis y = k x = h
Foci:
Length Semi transverse Axis: a a
Vertexes:
Length Semi conjugate Axis:
Asymptotes:

27. Example Find the equation of the hyperbola with the
Example Find the equation of the hyperbola with the following information given:
Vertexs: (1, -4), (1, 8)
 Semi-transverse axis is the line x = 1
 Semi-transverse axis is vertical: equation of hyperbola is:
Center  (1, 2)
h =1, k = 2
 Semi-transverse axis length = 8 – (-4) = 12
 a = 6
Semi-conjugate axis length: 4
 b = 4

28. Your turn: for the following equation, find the following information about the hyperbola. (Hint: put it into standard form)
8. Transverse axis: (horizontal or vertical?) and what is its equation?
9. What is the center of the hyperbola.
10. Length of the semi-conjugate axis.
11. Ordered pairs for the vertexes.
12. The ordered pairs for the Foci (use the Pythagorean relationship)
13. Length of the semi-transverse axis.

29. Your turn: 14. Find the equation of the hyperbola with the following information given:
Vertexes (1, -4) and (5, -4)
Foci: (0, -4) and (6, -4)

30. General Form Equation of Conic Sections
Parabolas:
Ellipses:
Hyperbolas: