SOLUTION: An arch in the shape of the top half of an ellipse is 14 feet wide and 2 feet high at the center. Find the width of the arch between the point on the arch which are at a height of
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Question 1156264: An arch in the shape of the top half of an ellipse is 14 feet wide and 2 feet high at the center. Find the width of the arch between the point on the arch which are at a height of 1 ft. Answer by greenestamps(13200) (Show Source):
The 14 foot width is the whole major axis; the 2 foot height is the semi-minor axis. The equation (with the origin at the center of the arch at ground level) is
Substitute y=1 and solve for x.
Then remember the question asks for the width between the TWO points where the height is 1; that is 2x -- not just x.
