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Worked solution

Find horizontal and vertical tangents to a closed curve

The equation of a closed curve is (x+2y)2+3(x−y)2=27(x+2y)^2+3(x-y)^2=27.

(i) Show by differentiation that its gradient is dydx=y−4x7y−x\dfrac{dy}{dx}=\dfrac{y-4x}{7y-x}.

(ii) Find the equations of the tangents parallel to (a) the x-axis, (b) the y-axis.

CJC · Discussion · Question 7

Answer

dy/dx=(y−4x)/(7y−x)dy/dx=(y-4x)/(7y-x); horizontal tangents y=±2y=\pm2, vertical tangents x=±7x=\pm\sqrt7.

(i) Differentiate implicitly

The chain rule gives

2(x+2y)(1+2y′)+6(x−y)(1−y′)=0.\begin{aligned}&2(x+2y)(1+2y^{\prime})\\ &{}+6(x-y)(1-y^{\prime})\\ & =0.\end{aligned}

Divide by 22 and expand:

x+2y+2xy′+4yy′+3x−3y−3xy′+3yy′=0.\begin{aligned}&x+2y+2xy^{\prime}+4yy^{\prime}+3x-3y\\ &{}-3xy^{\prime}+3yy^{\prime}\\ & =0.\end{aligned}

Hence 4x−y+(7y−x)y′=04x-y+(7y-x)y^{\prime}=0, so (7y−x)y′=y−4x(7y-x)y^{\prime}=y-4x and y′=(y−4x)/(7y−x)y^{\prime}=(y-4x)/(7y-x) wherever the denominator is nonzero.

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(ii)(a) Horizontal tangents

Set y−4x=0y-4x=0, so x=y/4x=y/4. Substitution gives (9y/4)2+3(−3y/4)2=27(9y/4)^2+3(-3y/4)^2=27, hence (108/16)y2=27(108/16)y^2=27 and y=±2y=\pm2. The tangents are y=2y=2 and y=−2y=-2, at (1/2,2)(1/2,2) and (−1/2,−2)(-1/2,-2). Their denominator 7y−x=27y/47y-x=27y/4 is nonzero.

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(ii)(b) Vertical tangents

Set 7y−x=07y-x=0, so y=x/7y=x/7. Then (9x/7)2+3(6x/7)2=27(9x/7)^2+3(6x/7)^2=27, giving (189/49)x2=27(189/49)x^2=27 and x2=7x^2=7. Thus the tangents are x=7x=\sqrt7 and x=−7x=-\sqrt7, at (7,1/7)(\sqrt7,1/\sqrt7) and (−7,−1/7)(-\sqrt7,-1/\sqrt7). The numerator is −27x/7≠0-27x/7\ne0, so these are regular vertical tangents. The printed notation dy/dx→∞dy/dx\to\infty denotes vertical slope; a finite real derivative does not exist there.

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Common mistakes

The equations of tangents are lines, not just the coordinates of the contact points.

Read the hint