Parametric Equations and Calculus

Suppose a particle is moving along a curve C in a plane, and then the position of the particle at each time t
is: x = f (t ) y = g (t ) So at time t, the particle is at the point on the curve ( f (t ), g (t ) ) .

C is called the parametric curve and the two equations are the parametric equations with parameter t.

Example: Here are the graphs of two functions f (t ) and g (t ) . Using the graphs, describe the motion of
the particle whose coordinates at time t are ( f (t ), g (t ) )
y
y

x
x

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Example: Sketch the curve with the parametric equations x = 2t − 4 y = 3 + t . Include the orientation.
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Describe the motion of the particle whose coordinates at time t are:

(a) x = cos t and y = sin t

(b) x = cos(3t ) and y = sin(3t )

(c) x = cos e− t ( ) and y = sin ( e )

2
−t 2
(Hint: Use −100  t  100 with a large t step)
The graph of a function y = f ( x) can always be parameterized in a simple way by
x(t ) = t y (t ) = f (t ) .

If y = x 2 , then one parameterization is x(t ) = t y (t ) = t

2

However the advantage of parametric equations is that a curve that is not a function can be described.

This is the parametric curve x = 3cos 3t y = 3sin 4t It is one of the family of curves called Lissajous
curves.
y

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Try to create other Lissajous curves. For a subset of the Lissajous curves, the formulas are of the form
x = cos(at ) y = sin(bt )

If a parametric curve is a function then it can be written in function notation but information about the
parameter is lost.

In the first example, we can eliminate the parameter. x = 2t − 4 y = 3 + t2

Parametric equations for lines:

1. a line through the point (a, b) with slope m

s
x = a + rt y = b + st for all t and any r and s such that m =
r

2. a line through two points P = (a, b) and Q = (c, d )

x = a + t (c − a) y = b + t (d − b) for all t

For the segment between the two endpoints P and Q, the restriction on the domain is 0  t  1

Example: Find the parametric equations for the line passing though the points (2, -1) and (-1, 5)

Find the parametric equation for the line segment with endpoints (2, -1) and (-1, 5)

Now graph both of these.

A parametric equation for circle centered at (a, b) is x = a + r cos  y = b + r sin 

Eliminate the parameter to see that this is a circle.

Parameterizations are not unique. Consider y = x

2

x=t y = t2 x = t3 y = t6 x = t2 y = t4 x = cos t y = cos 2 t

What is the difference between these parameterizations?

 dy
dy dt y (t )
The slope of the tangent line to a parameterized curve is = =
dx dx x (t )
dt

Example: Let x = t 2 + 1 y = t 3 − 4t

Find the equation of the tangent line to the curve at t = 3

d2y
Let’s find
dx 2

d  dy  d2y
d y d  dy  dt  dx 
2
d 2 y dt 2
=  = NB: 
dx 2 dx  dx  dx dx 2 d 2 x
dt dt 2

Example: The curve C is defined by the parametric equations x = t 2 and y = t − 3t

3

(a) Show that C has two tangents at the point (3, 0) and find their equations.

(b) Find the points on C where the tangents are horizontal and vertical.

(c) Determine where the curve is concave up and where it is concave down.

(d) Use the answers above to sketch the graph. Check with your calculator.
  ( x(t ) ) + ( y(t ) )
b
The arclength of a curve is also the distance a particle traveled. s =
2 2
dt
a

When using the arclength formula, be sure that the curve is only traced out once on the interval.

( x(t ) ) + ( y(t ) )
2 2
The speed of the particle is

3
Example: A particle travels along x = 2t y = 1 + t 2

Find the particle’s speed at t = 1

Find the distance traveled and the displacement on the interval 0  t  4

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