McGraw Hill Glencoe Algebra 2, 2012
MH
McGraw Hill Glencoe Algebra 2, 2012 View details
Study Guide and Review
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Exercise 41 Page 648

If necessary, rewrite the equation. Then identify whether the ellipse is vertical or horizontal.

Center:
Foci: and
Length of the Major Axis: units
Length of the Minor Axis: units
Graph:

Practice makes perfect
First, we need to rewrite this equation such that it fits the general equation of an ellipse.
Note that the denominator of the variable is greater than the denominator of the variable. Therefore, the equation represents a horizontal ellipse. Let's rewrite the equation to make it is easier to identify the values of and
Simplify left-hand side

Let's now use the equation to find the desired information.
Equation of the Horizontal Ellipse
and positive, with
Center
Vertices
Co-vertices
Length of Major Axis units units
Length of Minor Axis units units
Foci

Finally, let's calculate the value of and find the foci.
Solve for
Now we can add and subtract to find the foci.
We will now use the information we found to draw the ellipse.