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Question 5
Consider the ellipse $ ext{E}$ with equation \( \frac{x^2}{a^2} + \frac{y^2}{b^2} = 1 \), and the points \( P(acostheta, bsintheta) \), \( Q(acostheta + phi, bsin(th... show full transcript
Step 1
Answer
To find the equation of the tangent at the point ( P(acostheta, bsintheta) ) on the ellipse ( E ), we differentiate the equation of the ellipse implicitly.
Starting with the equation: we differentiate both sides with respect to ( x ) using implicit differentiation: This gives us: Substituting ( P ) into this derivative gives the slope ( m ) at point P: The equation of the tangent line can be found using point-slope form: Expanding and rearranging leads to:
Step 2
Answer
To show that ( QR ) is parallel to the tangent at ( P ), we need to find the slopes of both segments. The slope of chord ( QR ) can be calculated from points ( Q ) and ( R ):
Coordinates of ( Q ) and ( R ):
The slope ( m_{QR} ) is given by:
Using the sine subtraction formula: we get:
Since the tangent at ( P ) has a slope of: , we find that if both slope equations yield the same relationship in terms of trigonometric ratios, then chord ( QR ) is indeed parallel to the tangent at ( P ).
Step 3
Answer
Since ( OP ) is perpendicular to the tangent at ( P ), and both ( QR ) and the tangent at ( P ) are parallel, it must follow by symmetry that the midpoint of chord ( QR ) lies directly above (or below) ( OP ). Thus, we conclude that ( OP ) bisects chord ( QR ). This follows from the properties of ellipses where the lines drawn from the center to the endpoints of a chord bisect that chord.
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