Parametric Equations
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Copyright © Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.
Curves Defined by
10.1 Parametric Equations
Copyright © Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.
Curves Defined by Parametric Equations
Imagine that a particle moves along the curve
C shown in Figure 1. It is impossible to
describe C by an equation of the form y = f (x)
because C fails the Vertical Line Test.
Figure 1
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Curves Defined by Parametric Equations
But the x- and y-coordinates of the particle are
functions of time and so we can write x = f (t) and
y = g(t). Such a pair of equations is often a
convenient way of describing a curve and gives
rise to the following definition.
Suppose that x and y are both given as functions
of a third variable t (called a parameter) by the
equations x = f (t) and y = g (t) , then the
said equations are called parametric equations.
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Curves Defined by Parametric Equations
Each value of t determines a point (x, y), which
we can plot in a coordinate plane. As t varies, the
point (x, y) = (f (t), g (t)) varies and traces out a
curve C, which we call a parametric curve.
The parameter t does not necessarily represent
time and, in fact, we could use a letter other than
t for the parameter.
But in many applications of parametric curves, t
does denote time and therefore we can interpret
(x, y) = (f (t), g (t)) as the position of
a particle at time t. 5
Example 1
Sketch and identify the curve defined by the
parametric equations
x = t2 – 2t y=t+1
Solution:
Each value of t gives a point on the curve, as
shown in the table.
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Example 1 – Solution cont’d
For instance, if t = 0, then x = 0, y = 1 and so the
corresponding point is (0, 1).
In Figure 2 we plot the points (x, y) determined by
several values of the parameter and we join them
to produce a curve.
Figure 2
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Example 1 – Solution cont’d
It appears from Figure 2 that the curve traced out
by the particle may be a parabola.
This can be confirmed by eliminating the
parameter t as follows. We obtain t = y – 1 from
the second equation and substitute into the first
equation. This gives
x = t2 – 2t = (y – 1)2 – 2(y – 1) = y2 – 4y + 3
and so the curve represented by the given
parametric equations is the parabola
x = y2 – 4y + 3.
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Curves Defined by Parametric Equations
No restriction was placed on the parameter t in
Example 1, so we assumed that t could be any
real number.
But sometimes we restrict t to lie in a finite
interval. For instance, the parametric curve
x = t2 – 2t y=t+1 0t4
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Curves Defined by Parametric Equations
shown in Figure 3 (below) is the part of the
parabola in Example 1 that starts at
the point (0, 1) and ends at the
point (8, 5).
Figure 3
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Curves Defined by Parametric Equations
The arrowhead indicates the direction in which
the curve is traced as t increases from 0 to 4.
In general, the curve with parametric equations
x = f (t) and y = g (t) atb
has initial point (f (a), g (a)) and terminal point
(f (b), g (b)).
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Example 2
What curve is represented by the following
parametric equations?
x = cos t , y = sin t 0 t 2
Solution:
If we plot points, it appears that the curve is a
circle. We can confirm this impression by
eliminating t. Observe that
x2 + y2 = cos2t + sin2t = 1
Thus the point (x, y) moves on the unit circle
x2 + y2 = 1. 12
Example 2 – Solution cont’d
Notice that in this example the parameter t can
be interpreted as the angle (in radians) shown
in Figure 4.
Figure 4
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Example 2 – Solution cont’d
As t increases from 0 to 2, the point
(x, y) = (cos t, sin t) moves once around the
circle in the counterclockwise direction
starting from the point (1, 0).
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Example 2 – Solution cont’d
Exercise:
Given: i. x = 1 - t2 , y = t - 2
ii. x = sin t , y = csc t ,
A.Sketch the curve by using the parametric
equations to plot points.
B.Eliminate the parameter to find a
Cartesian equation of the curve.
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