College Algebra (6th Edition)

Published by Pearson
ISBN 10: 0-32178-228-3
ISBN 13: 978-0-32178-228-1

Chapter 7 - Conic Sections - Exercise Set 7.1 - Page 673: 86

Answer

The graph of the ellipse is close to the graph of a circle

Work Step by Step

We are given the ellipse centred in origine: $\dfrac{x^2}{a^2}+\dfrac{y^2}{b^2}=1$ $c^2=a^2-b^2$ As we are given that $\dfrac{c}{a}\rightarrow 0$, we have: $\dfrac{\sqrt{a^2-b^2}}{a}\rightarrow 0$ This means that $a^2\approx b^2\Rightarrow a\approx b$ The equation of the ellipse becomes: $\dfrac{x^2}{a^2}+\dfrac{y^2}{a^2}=1$ $x^2+y^2=a^2$ So when $\dfrac{c}{a}\rightarrow 0$, the graph of the ellipse gets closer to the graph of a circle. See the graph:
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