Finding the equation of an ellipse

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Homework Help Overview

The discussion revolves around finding the equation of an ellipse given one focus at (0, 4). Participants explore the necessary information required to determine the ellipse's equation, emphasizing the need for additional parameters.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory, Assumption checking

Approaches and Questions Raised

  • Participants question what additional information is needed beyond the single focus to find the equation of the ellipse, such as the length of the major axis or coordinates of the vertices.

Discussion Status

The discussion highlights a lack of sufficient information to proceed with finding the equation of the ellipse. One participant suggests that without additional parameters, the problem cannot be resolved. Another participant indicates they have figured something out, but the specifics remain unclear.

Contextual Notes

There is an emphasis on the need for more data points or parameters related to the ellipse, as one focus alone does not provide enough information to define it uniquely.

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find the equation of an ellipse whose foci is (0,4)?

Im not really sure of how to begin with this. Its actually a graph problem and it only gives the foci. can someone help me with this?
 
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js14 said:
find the equation of an ellipse whose foci is (0,4)?

Im not really sure of how to begin with this. Its actually a graph problem and it only gives the foci. can someone help me with this?

Foci are two points, and you only gave one. We also need one of the following to be able to find the equation:
- length of the major axis
- value of a
- coordinates of the vertices
- length of the minor axis
- value of b
- endpoints of the minor axis
- eccentricity of the ellipse
(I think that covers it)

Without any of the above, we can't find the equation. You mention that this is a graph problem, so if you have the graph with the coordinate axes labeled, you should be able to get the values of a and b. Can you upload the picture of the graph?
 
Its alright I figured it out. Thanks for replying though!
 
What, exactly, did you figure out? There exist an infinite number of ellipses having one focus at (0, 4).
 

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