SOLUTION: Determine the equation of the ellipse given a minor axis of length 6 and foci at (0.4) and (0,-4) im having alot of trouble with this equation i dont even know where to staart! i w

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Question 192953: Determine the equation of the ellipse given a minor axis of length 6 and foci at (0.4) and (0,-4) im having alot of trouble with this equation i dont even know where to staart! i would love some help thank you!
Answer by solver91311(24713) (Show Source):
You can put this solution on YOUR website!

Knowing that the foci are at (0,4) and (0,-4) tells us that the major axis is on the y-axis, the center of the ellipse is at the origin, and the distance from either focus to the center is 4. Also, if the minor axis is of length 6, then the semi-minor axis length is 3.

The length of the semi-major axis (j) is related to the distance from either focus to the center (F) and the length of the semi-minor axis (n) by the following:

For this problem:

Since the major axis is on the y-axis, the square of the semi-major axis is the denominator of the y-term and the square of the semi-minor axis is the denominator of the x-term.

John