- #1
Jumpsmash
- 5
- 0
Two tangents to an ellipse meet at a point T, find the coordinates of T.
The two equations are
(bcosΘ)x + (asinΘ)y= ab
(-bsinΘ)x + (acosΘ)y= ab
This has been really frustrating me as I feel it should be simple, but with the trigonometric parts I keep hitting a wall.
I have tried finding x in the first equation, which I worked out as X=(ab-asinΘy)/bcosΘ , and then substituting into the second equation to get a value for y, but I couldn't get it to condense to a reasonable form. I don't think this is the right approach and would appreciate someone pointing me in the right direction of how I should approach it.
The two equations are
(bcosΘ)x + (asinΘ)y= ab
(-bsinΘ)x + (acosΘ)y= ab
This has been really frustrating me as I feel it should be simple, but with the trigonometric parts I keep hitting a wall.
I have tried finding x in the first equation, which I worked out as X=(ab-asinΘy)/bcosΘ , and then substituting into the second equation to get a value for y, but I couldn't get it to condense to a reasonable form. I don't think this is the right approach and would appreciate someone pointing me in the right direction of how I should approach it.