Precalculus:

CONIC SECTIONS
Recall 101
▪ EQUATION OF A LINE
▪ SLOPE
▪ DISTANCE
▪ MIDPOINT
▪ EQUATION OF A LINE

➢ General Form: 𝑨𝒙 + 𝑩𝒚 + 𝑪 = 𝟎
➢ Standard Form:𝑨𝒙 + 𝑩𝒚 = 𝑪
➢ Slope-intercept Form: 𝒚 = 𝒎𝒙 + 𝒃
▪ SLOPE
➢ The steepness of a line
𝒚 𝟐 − 𝒚𝟏
𝒎=
𝒙𝟐 − 𝒙𝟏
▪ DISTANCE
➢ The distance between two
points in a plane

𝒅= 𝒙𝟐 − 𝒙𝟏 𝟐 + 𝒚𝟐 − 𝒚𝟏 𝟐
▪ MIDPOINT
➢ The coordinates of the exact
middle point between two
points on the plane
𝒙𝟏 + 𝒙𝟐 𝒚 𝟏 + 𝒚𝟐
𝒙= 𝒚=
𝟐 𝟐
 Precalculus:
CONIC SECTIONS
▪ CONIC SECTION
➢ a curve formed from the intersection of a
plane and a cone.
▪ CIRCLE
➢ a conic section formed
when a plane
intersects a cone
horizontally.
➢ a set of points
equidistant from a
fixed point called
the center

➢ The distance from

the center to any
point on the circle is
called the radius.
 Standard equation of a circle

𝟐 𝟐 𝟐
𝒙−𝒉 + 𝒚−𝒌 =𝒓
Where:
h = x coordinate of the center
k = y coordinate of the center
r = radius
When the center is at the origin (0,0)

𝟐 𝟐 𝟐
𝒙 +𝒚 =𝒓
𝟐 𝟐
𝒙 +𝒚 =𝟗
 𝟐 𝟐 𝟐
𝒙−𝒉 + 𝒚−𝒌 =𝒓

When the center is at ( h, k )

Sketch the graph of each standard equation

𝟐 𝟐
𝒙 + 𝒚 = 𝟑𝟔

𝟐 𝟐
𝒙+𝟐 + 𝒚−𝟏 =𝟗

𝟐 𝟐
𝒙−𝟒 + 𝒚+𝟐 = 𝟏𝟑
 𝟐 𝟐
𝒙 + 𝒚+𝟐 =𝟒

𝟐 𝟐
𝟒(𝒙 − 𝟏) + 𝟒 𝒚 + 𝟑 = 𝟒𝟗
▪ PARABOLA
➢ a conic section formed
when a plane
intersecting the cone
is tilted forming an
unbounded curve
➢ a locus of points that moves
such that it is equidistant from
a fixed point called the focus
and a fixed line called the
directrix

➢ is the set of all points P(x, y)

in the plane whose distance to
the focus equals to its distance
to the directrix.
o vertex
the minimum or
maximum point of
the graph when
the parabola
opens upward or
downward
o focus
a point that is c
units away from
the vertex
o axis of
symmetry
the line that divides
the parabola into
two equal parts.
o directrix
the line perpendicular
to the axis of
symmetry that is c
units from the vertex
o Latus rectum
the line segment that
passes through the
focus and is parallel to
the directrix; its length
is equal to | 4c | whose
endpoints lie on the
parabola
 Standard Equation of a Parabola
Vertex is at the origin (0,0)

𝟐 𝟐
𝒙 = 𝟒𝒄𝒚 𝒚 = 𝟒𝒄𝒙

𝟐 𝟐
𝒙 = −𝟒𝒄𝒚 𝒚 = −𝟒𝒄𝒙
▪ ELLIPSE
➢ a conic section formed
when a plane
intersecting the cone
is tilted forming a
bounded curve
➢ The collection of all points in
the plane, the sum of whose
distances from two fixed
points, called the foci, is a
constant.
➢ Let F1 and F2 be distinct points. The set of
all points P, whose distances from F1 and
from F2 add up to a certain constant, is
called ellipse. The points F1 and F2 are
called the foci of the ellipse
▪ FOCI
➢ Two fixed points on
the interior of an
ellipse
▪ CENTER
➢ The point midway the
foci
▪ VERTICES
➢ The intersections of
the major axis and
the ellipse
▪ COVERTICES
➢ The intersections of
the minor axis and
the ellipse
▪ MINOR AXIS
➢ The segment through the
center, perpendicular to
the major axis
▪ MAJOR AXIS
➢ The segment that
connects the vertices
of an ellipse
▪ MAJOR AXIS
➢ The segment that
connects the vertices
of an ellipse
Standard Equation of an Ellipse
Center is at the origin (0,0)
𝟐 𝟐 𝟐 𝟐
𝒙 𝒚 𝒙 𝒚
+ = 𝟏 𝟐
+ 𝟐
= 𝟏
𝒂 𝟐 𝒃 𝟐 𝒃 𝒂
a>b

a: distance of each vertex from the center

b: distance of each covertex from the center
Determine the values of a and b, and the orientation of the
defined ellipse
𝟐 𝟐 𝟐 𝟐
𝒙 𝒚 𝒙 𝒚
+ =𝟏 + =𝟏
𝟑𝟔 𝟐𝟓 𝟒 𝟐
𝟐 𝟐 𝟐
𝒙 𝒚 𝟐
𝒚
+ =𝟏 𝒙 + =𝟏
𝟖𝟏 𝟏𝟎𝟎 𝟒
𝟐 𝟐
𝒙 𝟐
𝒚 𝟐 𝒙 𝒚
+ =𝟏 + =𝟏
𝟐𝟎 𝟑𝟐 𝟏𝟏 𝟐𝟖
Graphing an Ellipse
a: distance of each vertex from the center
b: distance of each covertex from the center
c: distance of each focus to the center

𝒙𝟐 𝒚𝟐 𝒙𝟐 𝒚𝟐
𝟐
+ 𝟐=𝟏 𝟐
+ 𝟐=𝟏
𝒂 𝒃 𝒃 𝒂

𝒄𝟐 = 𝒂𝟐 − 𝒃𝟐
𝒄 = 𝒂𝟐 − 𝒃𝟐
𝟐 𝟐
𝒙 𝒚
+ =𝟏
𝟐𝟓 𝟏𝟔
𝟐 𝟐
𝒙 𝒚
+ =𝟏
𝟔𝟒 𝟏𝟎𝟎
HYPERBOLA
✓ Define hyperbola
✓ Determine the standard equation of hyperbola
✓ Graph hyperbola on the rectangular coordinate
system
▪ Hyperbola
➢ a conic section formed
when a plane
intersects both cone to
form to unbounded
curves
➢ The set of all points P, whose distances
from F1 and from F2 differ by a certain
constant.
▪ CENTER
➢ The intersection of the two axes
▪ FOCI
➢ The point c units away from the center
▪ VERTICES
➢ The points on the hyperbola, collinear
with the center and the foci.
▪ CO-VERTICES
➢ The endpoints of the conjugate axis
▪ ASYMPTOTES
➢ The passing through the center which
serves as a guide in graphing the
hyperbola
▪ CONJUGATE AXIS
➢ The line segment that connects the
co-vertices. It has a length equal to
2b
▪ TRANSVERSE AXIS
➢ The line segment that connects the
vertices. It has a length equal to 2a
Standard Equation of Hyperbola

𝟐 𝟐 𝟐 𝟐
𝒙 𝒚 𝒚 𝒙
𝟐
− 𝟐
= 𝟏 𝟐
− 𝟐
= 𝟏
𝒂 𝒃 𝒂 𝒃
Standard Equation of Hyperbola
𝟐 𝟐
(𝒙 − 𝒉) (𝒚 − 𝒌)
𝟐
− 𝟐
= 𝟏
𝒂 𝒃

𝟐 𝟐
(𝒚 − 𝒌) (𝒙 − 𝒉)
𝟐
− 𝟐
= 𝟏
𝒂 𝒃