SOLUTION: Which is the equation of an ellipse centered at the origin with foci on x-axis, major axis of length 12 and minor axis of length 8?

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Question 1117521: Which is the equation of an ellipse centered at the origin with foci on x-axis, major axis of length 12 and minor axis of length 8?
Answer by greenestamps(13200) About Me  (Show Source):
You can put this solution on YOUR website!


Standard equation of an ellipse with horizontal major axis and center at (h,k):

%28x-h%29%5E2%2Fa%5E2%2B%28y-k%29%5E2%2Fb%5E2=1

a is the semi-major axis; b is the semi-minor axis.

In your problem the center is the origin, so h and k are both 0; the major axis is 12 so a=6, and the minor axis is 8 so b = 4. Then the equation is

%28x-0%29%5E2%2F36%2B%28y-0%29%5E2%2F16=1

or just

x%5E2%2F36%2By%5E2%2F16=1